


Hunter Hunted: Hybrid Wars

by GhostNobody



Category: Alien vs Predator (2004)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Anal Sex, Fantasy, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Love, Multi, Oral Sex, Romance, Science Fiction, Sex, Vaginal Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 176,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26121859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostNobody/pseuds/GhostNobody
Summary: This will be the tale of Clan Mason, from thier humble beginings through to thier rise as force for good in my universe, new enemies will rise to join old ones, come and see how Jack Mason and Tik eleth will not only rise to meet them but bring the fight to them gathering with them new friends and allies in thier valient fight against the creeping darkness and what lies within.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	1. Building Better Worlds

Well here we are again ladies and gentlemen, it finally begins, the latest instalment of the Hunter Hunted series that I have been promising you, I hope you've all been well during the wait and i hope that this one is going to be received with the same love and that it will bring the same joy that my other two offerings have brought you.  
This tale is going to tell the story of Clan Mason, how it came to be the force for good that we've seen in my other two stories Hunter Hunted and the Enemy of my Enemy, it will chronicle their beginnings and the trials they face along the way as Jack and Tik eleth strive to build a safe place in the universe for all those who like them wish to live free and to love free without bigotry and fear, we will see Clan Mason's humble beginnings and their rise to power, there will be epic battles, new and exiting species as well as reader favorites making their return and yes before I get asked the Beledons will take a role here, you will get to see how they came to become a part of the clan.  
So if you want to see more interspecies romance, gods and goddess, epic battles and Dream Warriors doing their Dream Warrior thing i ask you to to once again step into my mind take my hand and let me guide you, I hope with all my heart you enjoy the show, oh and just a note my Discord is up and running so if you have any ideas you want to share, or you just wanna stop by and say hi then please do so, the door is always open and I'm on most days, so don't be shy stop in and say hi, https :// discord. gg / hES52zn, the invite is for all just take out the spaces.  
So that's enough rambling by me, this is GhostNobody signing off and bidding you welcome to.......

Hunter Hunted: Hybrid Wars.

By GhostNobody.

Chapter 1: Building Better Worlds.

Jack Mason yawned loudly and sat up, stretching his still aching muscles, all this training was really doing a number on him, Dream Warrior or not he was pushing himself rapidly towards his breaking point, but it wasn't like he had a choice, Lady Paya had warned him of what was coming, though she didn't know what form it would take or how it would strike or even where, but it was coming and they had to be prepared for it, Clan Mason was destined to be the ones who stood against the purest evil that the dark trickster god Loki had released when he'd opened the box of Pandora.

A soft growl and a yawn sounded behind him and before he had chance to turn two huge hands slid across his chest and he felt four mandibles exploring the nape of his neck, biting gently on four points at once with the sharp little tusks on the end of each one, "Mmmm, I love the way you smell in the morning, my male," a deep but still feminine voice washed over him softly from behind, he felt a soft warmth wash over his bare skin as she took a deep breath and he also felt the warmth and wetness of her tongue drag over his skin, sending shivers along his spine in its wake.

A soft growl escaped him, "Mmmm, well, someone sure is perky this morning, after all that training yesterday I'd have thought you'd be worn down, you were pushing that new Hunter squad of yours pretty hard, I've never seen a Yautja faint before, let alone four of them," Jack said, lifting one of the big hands belonging to his beloved life mate Tik eleth Mason and kissing it softly along her clawed finger tips.

He felt her growl vibrate through him, shaking his very bones, for a 6'10 tall 300 pound Yautja Tik was considered small by her race's standards, with the vast majority of their females reaching up to 9ft tall and weighing in at 500 pounds in weight of utterly solid muscle, Yautja were the living embodiment of the term 'Predator,' especially as they used to hunt humans, or oomans, as they called them, for sport, killing them and taking their skull and spines as trophies.

But many years ago he and Tik had met on a distant planet, both the victims of a clan of Yautja outlaws called Bad Bloods by her people, they had dropped them both there with the intent of hunting and killing them, but the pair had found one another and working together had turned the tables and escaped, not only that but the pair had found out that they had a hell of a lot in common, having survived such a nightmare together, a binding and powerful love had sprung up and bound the pair together in bloodshed and fire born of it.

They had found the world that they were currently living on and had made it their home, for fifteen years they had lived in peace and quiet, raising a family, they had one son, Ryan Mason, a Dream Warrior like his father who specialized in the hunting and taming of wild animals, earning him the name Tamer, he took almost utterly after his mother other than the Dream Warrior part.

Their second child and Ryan's twin was a daughter, Sela eleth Mason, who was as deadly with a rifle as she was beautiful, she shared this skill with her father who before all of this had been a master sniper in the British Special Air Service back on Earth, in fact, it was he who taught her to shoot and was there proudly watching as she brought down her first kill just as her mother watched proudly as she took her first trophy.

But their family had grown when both Ryan and Sela eleth had been abducted by the newly reformed clan of Bad Bloods who had originally taken Jack and Tik all those years ago, they'd been lead by h'chak, a female Dream Warrior who had been possessed and mentally enslaved by the trickster god who had forced her to do utterly awful things against her will, trapped as she was a mere spirit in her mind, Jack had infiltrated her mind and using the powers granted to him by the legion of spirits that had used him as a trojan horse the trickster god was overwhelmed and taken down before being taken away by the council of the divine.

After that, warriors that had defected from Tik's old clan, the Shadowclaw Clan, had joined her and Ryan after he'd endured and won a trial by combat, thanks in part to his ability to convince three Xenomorph queens to join him and fight for him in exchange for not only freedom but mutual respect and equality within the newly formed Clan Mason, which they were instantly granted.

Since that point Clan Mason had flourished, the three species that made it up, Human, Yautja and Xenomorphs all working and living together in harmony, all working to build a home to be proud of and a place to be free, a place they defended with a righteous fury.

With that in mind, Jack and Tik as the clan's Grand Patriarch and Matriarch had set up the Guardian Core, the army of Clan Mason set up to both defend the clan itself and when needed to take the fight to others, it had originally just been soldiers but within months it had grown into far more, with that in mind Jack had the idea of splitting it up into sections, each under the command of a specific person in the clan.

With this in mind each and every person who applied for the Guardian Core was tested for their aptitude in specific areas, the Dream Warriors, although rare, were transfered under the command of either Jack or Ryan into two separate groups, one with their aptitude for communing and summoning Spirits were called the Soul Knights, the other with their attunement to the forces of nature and communicating with animals and the spirits of nature were called the Tamers and were transfered under Ryan's command.

The bulk of the Guardian Core was made up of a mixture of human and Yautja warriors, these were called the Hunters and were placed under Tik's command, she trained them in a mixture of Yautja hunting and ambush tactics as well as human squad combat tactics provided by both Jack and Miller, an American special forces operative rescued along with his squad from the planet that the Bad Bloods had trapped them, in fact, all the living members of his squad had become Hunters and assisted Tik with teaching her recruits with their training.

The remainder were the Specialists, these were everything from snipers to sappers to electronics experts, these were transfered to Sela eleth and her Saviours, these guys acted as support to the main troops by filling in the gaps required in a modern army.

Last but by no means least were the Battle Angels, a group of warrior medics made up entirely of Xenos born of the hive of King Cortez and his beloved warrior Queen Zara.

Clan Mason had grown rather rapidly in the first few months of it's existiance, after news of Ryan's victory in the trial by combat that he had endured and his existiance as both a Hybrid and a Dream Warrior had traveled to the other clans many defectors had broken off from their own clans and made the perilous journey to Clan Mason's home world in order to petition Jack and Tik to join Clan Mason.

They had taken five thousand members on in the first six months alone, but given how many Yautja clans were out there that was barely a single drop in the ocean, of the Yautja race, but it was not a drop that had gone unnoticed, especially as the vast majority of those making the journey were female, roughly 80%.

It wasn't just the trial that had reached their ears, from what they'd gathered from these new comers, news of Ryan's heritage was circulating as was the stories of Tik and Jack's love for one another as somehow Tik's diary and poems written during her time on that planet had been circulated and were apparently the must have reading materials in certain circles and those circles were so enamoured with what they'd seen and read that they had plucked up the courage and defected from their clans for the chance to live free and to love free.

But Clan Mason didn't have that many humans to go around so a plan had to be formulated to even the numbers up before they ended up with a riot on their hands, so with the help of Yoshi and Citrus and his hive of engineers and scientists the clan had built satellites to be deployed into Earth's orbit by one of the many captured and repurposed ships that the clan had in its possession, using these satellites they hacked into the communication networks of Earth and began to monitor the internet and various other channels of communication, they began to plant the seeds of a better life, free of the constraints of Earth, but Clan Mason didn't just want a bunch of horny hippies showing up, so they devised a set of tests, riddles that created a trail of electronic bread crumbs that, if followed correctly, would not only prove the followers worth but their dedication to the cause.

It worked perfectly, they got ten thousand applicants from all over the planet and from a wide variety of backgrounds, from farmers to math specialists, scientists, engineers, builders, mechanics, all walks of life, plus it was split perfectly fifty fifty, half male half female, which worked out perfectly as it allowed for a good dynamic on the world, enough of each to go around plus enough to hold up a healthy human population for when more came.

With Earth only just taking its first early steps into space with private enterprises like Weyland Yutani leading the way the people who had opted to join Clan Mason and accept their offer were skeptical at first that it was real, but when Jack and Tik stood before them on Jack's home soil not a single attendee of the secret conference left, every single one returned to the Mason homeworld and were integrated into the blossoming society, in the grand scheme of things ten thousand humans is only a small drop in the ocean, plus thanks to the connection to the networks of Earth that Clan Mason currently had they were able to disappear the people who had joined, fake death certificates all around.

They came of their own free will to a world far away from their own to start new lives and just for the chance to be so much more than they already were and so the foundations of Clan Mason were set and ready to be built upon and they had so much to achieve and so very far to go if they were to be able to track down and defeat the creeping darkness, even now Jack could feel it in the depths of his mind, like a whisper of a whisper, but it was still there, he could still feel it and he knew he had to stop it, but for that they would need to grow stronger, they'd need allies, they'd need warriors and weapons, but further more, they'd need a plan.

In only a short space of time they made such incredible leaps and bounds, with Yoshi and Citrus's hive working overtime their medical tech came on in leaps and bounds, now not only was interspecies reproduction solved but they'd extended human life spans from a measly hundred years tops to four times that number through enhanced genetic techniques, leave it to Xenos to figure out how to easily master how to adjust a someones genes, it was probably because of their own birth rituals and how Xenos birthed from different species took on the characteristics that gave them the idea of how to do it, though these days all children born of the hives were implanted in willing volunteers and extracted long before there was any risk to their life, this was done in a huge facility housed within King Cortex and Queen Zara's hive, the whole place was basically a giant hospital shaped like a huge termite mound, no matter the time of day there were Xenos scurrying around in their trademark pink and white Battle Angel armor.

They worked closely with Yoshi's hive in order to try and bring something else to the Xeno species, reproductive organs of their own, both the King and Queen wished to allow their daughters and sons to enjoy the beauty of the relationships that they enjoyed with their kings, they both believed that this would be a true leap forwards for the furtherment of the Xenomorph species, imagine it, no more hosts, no more death to birth, just natural and joyful love, where any Xeno could be her own queen or king and they could be with any they could choose for themselves, this was a goal that had the full approval of the clan.

They still had a long way to go but the strides they had made in those first hundred years had meant that every single human that had come here both from the hunting grounds of the Bad bloods and from the first wave from Earth were still alive and all had families of their own, hell, every one of them had fully adult children now, tripling the population in only one generation, even both Ryan and Sela eleth were proud parents, each having a pair of twins of their own, it seemed to be a thing with Yautja, they rarely had just one child during a birthing, in fact, the vast amount of the population, if you didn't count the Xenos, were made up of human Yautja hybrids.

Now with the Clan was really ready to take its first true steps into space, for other than securing their homeworld and making their people happy and safe Clan Mason hadn't really ventured into the depths of space yet as both Jack and Tik had agreed that their first duty was to their giant family, because that's what being a member of Clan Mason meant, you were a member of a giant family and families look after and protect one another, this was a value that was instilled into every single member either from induction or birth, which ever way you entered it.

So other than retrieving those first human settlers to bring back to the homeworld the fleet of ships they possessed were used for little more than planetary defence, though they had begun building huge shipyards both on the ground and in space above the planet for their ventures further out into the cosmos, right now though they only had the one finished one, but it was the biggest of all of them, in fact, it had produced Jack and Tik's personal battle cruiser, currently the biggest ship in the fleet, known as the Dreamer.

Tik's purr pulled Jack out of his thoughts and the nibbles of her mandibles over his sensitive ears wasn't helping either, "You know how hard training gets me going just like a good hunt, it was too late to do anything about it last night but this morning I am going to have my fill of you before we go anywhere, my delicious ooman," she purred.

Jack chuckled softly, a hundred years of loving this incredible woman and her passion for him hadn't dulled a single bit, if anything it had grown brighter and stronger day by day, though to be fair he felt exactly the same for her, she was the fire that lit his heart and soul every day, his reason for being, but even now, he still loved to tease his beautiful huntress, nothing got her going more than him playing a little hard to get, even if he could easily overpower her thanks to his Dream Warrior speed and strength there was just something too beautiful about being taken by the one you loved more than life, knowing that no matter what this person would never ever hurt you or allow you to come to harm, to have them protect you and love you with their entire being,

"Oh? And what make you think it will be so easy, my huntress? Do I strike you as as easy prey? If you want me you have to earn me!" Jack said, his voice filled with challenge that made Tik growl deeply, they both knew that it was a game, one that both adored to play, nothing got a Yautja huntress hotter than having to fight for her prey or for her love, employing his flexibility and his Dream Warrior speed Jack twisted out of her grip and rolled across their huge bed as Tik made a dive for him like a rugby player trying to catch a flying pass, she missed and wound up with a mouth full of silk sheet, she roared, flaring her mandibles wide as she sprang up, her eyes filled with bright passion and desire, the hunt was on.

This game of their had strict rules that neither ever, ever broke, neither of them ever struck the other because they were both believers that love should never hurt and it was disgraceful to ever intentionally harm the one you love because that person put themselves in your hands every day and trusted you with their life and safety and then for you to be the one that betrayed that trust and to harm them was a despicable thing, so no punching, no kicking, other than leg swipes, restraining holds and locks only and if someone tapped out you released them instantly because a yield was final.

It was also good martial arts practice for the both of them, kinda like a Judo match mixed with a little Ju-Jitsu mixed in for good measure, generally it was one of them acting as prey and the other acting as hunter or huntress, but now and then they switched things up and the prey fought back, they loved to keep things fun and fresh, despite her size Tik was as nimble as a gazelle when she wanted to be and with the right motivation, like the unbridled passions of her beloved male who would do anything she asked of him if she managed to get him down, love was a powerful motivator for a Yautja female and as Tik had proved with her actions already they would go to any length to get it and even further to protect it and hold it.

Tik sprang off the bed using the huge poster poles that held up the huge curtains that surrounded their marital bed as a swing pole to change direction in mid air as jack moved to dodge her dummy leap, Jack had to deliberately switched off his Dream Warrior abilities when doing these bouts with her as they gave him a seriously unfair advantage over his wife, now, given that Yautja females were bigger than their males this also made them a lot stronger, Tik was a good example of this, despite her stature making her smaller then her kin she was a true tower of power, the joke about a girl able to crack a walnut between her arse cheeks actually applied to Tik because he'd seen her do it with a Gumba nut, a walnuts tank-like cousin.

She was utterly solid, now as she bunched up to spring board off the pole after swinging her huge feet onto the pole every muscle in her legs bunched with such incredible power that she was going to be like a cross between a torpedo and a battering ram flying at him, but this is where things kinda got unfair for Tik, as Jack was a Dream Warrior, these legendary warriors were once believed to be a Yautja legend and specific only to their race, 'till Jack and then Ryan had broken that mold, then others had popped up as well, other humans found in the first wave of colonists, drawn to them by a mysterious force.

This status gave Jack unparalleled power, he could invade the minds of others and make their dreams seem real or their worst nightmares their reality, he could tear language or memories from the minds of others like pages from a book, but he could also see things before they happened, like he knew that Tik was going to leap, he also knew when and where she was going and if he chose he could have either caught her and thrown her back or simply move out of her way to allow her go flying face first into the ebony dresser beyond.

But jack could no sooner do that to the woman he loved then he could have lifted a hand to her to strike her, he would have rather cut his own throat than seen a single wound on his beloved wife's skin and known he put it there by malicious intent, now, don't misunderstand, the pair had bruised each other plenty of times during their bouts, as with all martial arts injuries are to be expected and the both accepted that, if either of them ever got genuinely hurt the bout was instantly stopped and the other rushed to their aid and it was always followed by tearful apologies and tender care, despite both of them knowing it was an accident.

Though they'd both suffered a few bruises that they'd rather enjoyed having as well, like the hand prints that Tik walked around with on her amazing rear after she'd been a very naughty little huntress and Jack had spanked his naughty, naughty huntress.

Jack took the impact of the flying huntress full in the chest, choosing not to move, but that didn't mean he was done, he'd braced against it and using purely his flexibility he'd used Tik's own force and strength against her by catching her and swinging her like a hammer thrower before sending her flying back into the bed, where she got herself all tangled up in the sheets, as she tried desperately to escape jack saw an opportunity he simply couldn't ignore as Tik's bare arse appeared out of the sheets as she struggled with the black silk to escape, with a flash he smacked her arse twice once on each cheek before darting out of range as the big huntress roared in both surprise and pleasure, not to mention frustration.

Though once free the look in Tik's eyes told him he was in for it now, the fire had become an inferno, before he knew what was happening Tik was on him, she moved like greased lightning, grabbing him and flipping upside down and onto the bed on his belly, before he could move she was on him and he felt her incredible weight slam onto his hips, forcing him into the soft plush mattress which was specially designed to accomodate interspecies couples, specifically humans and Yautja, it was cushioned to allow a Yautja to put more of their weight on their ooman partner without fear of injuring them in the throws of passion, just like Jack was about to be subjected to.

Tik grabbed both his arms and yanked them up behind him, locking his shoulders and wrists, "I have you now, my beautiful prey!" Tik roared, hungrily nipping the back of his neck with her mandibles, Jack struggled, playfully putting an effort in to simulate realism, there were at least six different ways Jack knew of to escape from this hold and Tik knew that he knew them too, she was probably braced for one of them being deployed but that wasn't the point of the game, this wasn't a serious combat bout or training, it was just playing, it wasn't meant to be serious, it was just a bit of fun designed to get them both fired up, though mostly Tik.

She growled then purred before nipping his right ear with her mandibles and licking the stinging area where her tusks nipped with her long tongue, "Yield, my beautiful ooman prey, my hunt is over, I have you and you cannot escape, yield and and I promise I will not end you, I would prefer that you didn't just become another skull on my wall, no, I believe you will make so much better a trophy alive and...writhing," she purred in his ear in a very sultry voice before licking it again, "Yield, ooman, and I'll even promise to be gentle with you, I will not hurt you, you will find that I am generous huntress and you have been excellent prey, let me taste of you and satisfy my hunger and you may just discover that a new life awaits you," she growled.

"I yield, you have bested me, mighty huntress, I am at your mercy do with me as you will," Jack said, and Tik growled very wantingly.

"Oh, I intend to, beautiful ooman, trust me," she purred.

Tik released her grip on Jack's arms and the tension in Jack's joints and muscles released, she wasn't worried that he would use this to escape her, they both knew the rules, a yield was final and there would be no more combat from that point, no more resistance, from this point they could play dominant, submissive or equals, depending on what mood the pair were in, today Jack was playing the vanquished and captured prey, so he would be in a submissive role while Tik would be the strong, victorious and dominant huntress, but there were some lines that the pair never crossed in their play, for instance, neither would ever do anything in the dominant role that would humiliate the other, embarass a little maybe but never humiliate and make the other feel like they were anything less than they were or to be ashamed of what they were, neither of them could ever bare to feel like they'd made their most beloved one feel like that.

Tik flipped Jack over on his back and instantly straddled him on his chest while grabbing his wrists in one of her large hands and hoisting them above his head, Jack looked up at her, letting his eyes roam up her body, drinking in all the swirls of color that her camoflage hide had, her kind evolved to hunt, so, like the apex predators of his world their bodies had adapted to this role, larger muscle density and natural camo color skin were part of this, their skin was also much thicker than their human counterparts and far more resilient to damage, they also healed quicker.

But these were things that the Yautja of this world never lorded over them, quite the contrary actually, the human loving Yautja of this world actively reveled in their more fragile human lovers, just like Tik was now reveling in the sight of her prone human male right now, just as his eyes were drinking in the thighs that could crush a man with ease, the wide, solid hips, the chiseled abs that looked like they could double as a washboard, large, firm but soft breasts that swayed and bounced with her every movement, broad shoulders that many would have thought masculine like a body builder's, especially when you took into account the size of the arms attached to them.

But Jack's favorite thing was atop her solid neck, her beautiful face, now, most Yautja weren't exactly lookers what with wide heads, four huge mandibles that sort of looked like crab legs around their mouths, brightly colored neon like eyes, wide, ridged foreheads and tubular, fleshy dreadlocks that cascaded down their backs, but to Jack, Tik was the most exquisite female to have ever graced the universe, there wasn't a single thing about her that he disliked, he adored her in every way, she was his alien beauty, his soul mate.

Now, as he watched her beautiful bright purple eyes as they roamed over him, drinking him in as he had done to her, he saw her admiring his masculine frame and the look in her eyes was a beautiful mix of predatory and loving, she leaned down and opened her mandibles wide, using them to stroke his cheeks and his neck, "Such pretty prey, such a worthy hunt and such a wonderful trophy you will make," she growled softly in a low voice that sent shivers down Jack's spine, he adored that even after all this time no one could light his heart and loins on fire like she could, she didn't even have to do anything, just her bending over doing her stretches before training was more than enough to induce a very great need for a cold shower.

Tik's long and very agile tongue extended from her mouth and danced like a small green snake in front of his eyes before running over his cheek, along his neck and around over his lips, her mandibles flared wide and she gripped his face in them, one at each corner of his jaw, but she was very careful to ensure that his nose was free so he could breathe, her tongue slipped into his mouth, forcing its way between his slightly parted lips and coiling around his own much wider and flatter one, he could taste her sweet saliva coating his tongue, his teeth and his cheeks.

They parted with a soft wet pop and Jack took a gasping breath as the intoxicating taste of Tik's saliva had made him actually forget to breathe, "Mmmmm, you taste so good, beautiful ooman, I wonder if you will enjoy the way I taste as much as I enjoy yours," she growled, nipping his ear lobes in her tusks as her mandibles released his head, he knew exactly what she had in mind and what she was hinting at and he couldn't help the pangs of pure desire that lit his loins like little flames springing up.

Maintaining her grip on his wrists Tik raised herself up and began to shuffle forward on her knees up his body, she was deliberately dragging her pelvis up against his body so that he could feel the heat of her arousal burning through his skin as her womanhood rubbed against his flesh, coating him in her scent and her arousal until he came face to face so to speak with her treasure and his prize.

Tik didn't have a single hair on her entire body and her skin was rough, kinda like heavy sand paper but it was rough enough to hurt him, in fact, the only part where her flesh was smooth was on the palms of her large hands, on the souls of her feet and the very place that she was currently lining up with his mouth.

As Tik's knees planted either side of his head Jack found himself looking up inside his beloved wife, she saw the soft swollen outer lips of her womanhood parting to reveal the bright pale green inner lips, she was very much like a human woman in shape but that's where the similarity ended, her flesh was bright green just like the hot blood that flowed through her veins, as Tik shuffled her knees a little higher up to his elbows so she would be aligned when she lowered her weight onto him he saw her looking down at him over the swell of her breasts and her chiseled stomach and smiling.

"Please your huntress, ooman prey, and she may reward you with a gift no ooman has ever been worthy enough to receive, a gift worthy of only the loyal and the obedient," she growled.

"Yes, my huntress," Jack said, trying to sound meek, it was all part of the game after all, in reality he adored doing this for her and they both knew it, just as she adored doing the very same for him, as Tik lowered herself down she was careful to keep her weight in her knees so she didn't crush his head or trap his face so he couldn't breathe, she ground her soaking hot loins over his face, letting her outer lips open like a mouth to create a perfect seal with his lips.

"Now lick, ooman! Put that big tongue of yours to good use!" she snarled at him, and Jack, whose mouth had been forced open by Tik's womanhood, extended his tongue until it made contact with the hot, soft flesh of her inner lips, Tik hissed and growled as pleasure fired up her spine, Tik's flavor was utterly exquisite to him, he raked his tongue over her burning hot, slimy flesh and Tik snarled and writhed above him, grinding her womanhood against his mouth like she was trying to make the seal between her lower lips and his upper one permanent, "Deeper, ooman! Lick deeper inside me! I want to feel that tongue as far into my mating hole as it will go! i want you to taste my insides in your mouth for days!" Tik snarled, Jack obeyed and he knew just the right little trick for just this sort of occasion, one that he knew would drive this beautiful huntress of his wild.

So Jack probed and tasted using just the tip of his tongue until he found her puling and twitching opening, he ran the tip of his tongue around that powerful ring of flesh, making it pulse and expand and contract as the muscles tried to grab his tongue and draw it in, timing it right jack slid his tongue up inside and instantly felt it being enveloped and stroked from all sides by Tik's powerful internal flesh.

The taste was incredible, Tik's arousal was like utter nectar to him, sweet and syrupy and so wonderful that he sucked on her gently, trying to extract more like a bee trying to extract nectar from a flower, Tik roared and thrashed above him as the pleasure assaulted her, but this was all part of the plan, using the wide root of his tongue he angled it upwards towards Tik's belly and with expert finesse he dragged that root over Tik's now engorged clit which was now exposed from under its little hood of green flesh.

It worked perfectly and Tik let loose a might roar above him and glancing up her body he saw her mandibles flare, using the root of his tongue he massaged and swirled her clit while coating her insides with saliva while she in turn coated his tongue with her sweet nectar, but now he knew that she wouldn't last much longer, he knew his wife more than well enough to know her little signals an the panting and rutting of her hips were dead giveaways and true enough only seconds later Tik let out an even louder roar and her body went ridged and a flood of honey sweet Yautja nectar flooded his mouth, causing him to suck and swallow greedily as he tried to get every last drop of her juice.

Tik sagged forwards and he felt her grip on his wrists slacken somewhat as she panted for breath, her orgasm had really blown her mind apart, Jack gave a couple of last little licks to clean her up and then Tik regained her senses and began to shuffle her way back down his body, as he caught her eyes he felt the immense love she had for him radiating from them, "Did I do well, my huntress?" Jack asked in his best meek voice, and Tik purred.

"You did very well, my prey, I believe it is time for your huntress to honor her word and give you your reward for a job well done," she purred, and Jack saw her lining herself up with him, she rubbed her sopping hot womanhood along the length of his aching and throbbing shaft, coating it with her hot, thick nectar, then, while still maintaining her grip on his bound wrists, she lifted up and used her free hand to catch hold of his manhood as it bobbed upwards, with one smooth and slick movement Tik lined him up and before he even had time to register the kiss that the hot ring of incredibly tight flesh gave his tip she sank him to the hilt in hot feminine Yaujta heaven.

Both of them growled in pure ecstacy as they felt the pureness of their union, Jack feeling the incredible strength and heat of Tik's internal muscles gripping his, caressing every inch of him, trying to draw him into her very core and Tik reveling in the feeling of the swollen masculine heat filling her and reveling in that feeling of fullness, "Ohhhh, you feel so good, ooman! Your kind was not made for its own females! Your males were meant for us! You are perfect for us! You are perfect for me!" Tik snarled, and with that she began to move in a slow, torturous movement, dragging herself up 'till only his tip remained to be caressed by her soft slick internal flesh, before crashing back down on him and forcing that same tip to kiss the neck of her womb, sending a jolt of electric pleasure through both of them.

Jack, restrained as he was, could do nothing but buck his hips in time with her motions, Tik's body wrung every drop of pleasure from him like his drew every drop it could from her, the pair moved in perfect union, each thrust hungrier and more passion filled than the last, the sound of their wet flesh reverberating throughout the room in a series of thick wet slaps of Yautja flesh meeting human flesh over and over again, getting steadily faster and faster and faster, until, in a truly perfect symmetrical motion, the pair crashed together and both issued a roar of their own each calling the the other's name as Tik's flesh clamped down on Jack and hot liquid joy erupted from him and filled her alien womb with human essence.

Tik collapsed in Jack's now free arms and he held his wife tightly, Tik was always rather emotional and vulnerable, she often required after care and reassurance that she hadn't gone to far in their play, that she hadn't hurt or humiliated her beloved husband with her actions, but with a simple stoke of her face and a little push of his Dream Warrior abilities he let his happiness, his joy and his love bleed into her and he felt his big emotional huntress calm down, she purred softly and nibbled his neck, "Thank you, my Ack, thank you for understanding me the way you do," she said, and he smiled at her, softly trailing kisses along her mandibles.

"You never have to thank me for loving you, my big, beautiful huntress, no more than you have to thank me for breathing," he said softly, before pulling her into a deep and loving kiss, suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?" Jack called.

"Come on you two, if you're quite finished ruining yet more bedsheets we have a meeting with Yoshi and Citrus this morning, doesn't look good if the clan leaders are late, you know?" their beloved daughter Sela eleth said, poking her head around their bedroom door, Tik growled.

"I do not believe queen Citrus will hold my wish to express my love for my beautiful ooman against me," she said, and Sela eleth laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Just hurry up and get dressed you two, we have a lot to do today," Sela said, sounding exasperated.

"Very well, my cub, leave us and will will be out shortly," Tik said, and Sela nodded then she glanced up at them again before closing the door.

"Do me a favor and try to take separate showers yeah? I know what you two are like," she said, giving them a knowing smile and Tik growled.

"It is not my fault that my male is just so beautiful that it would be an offence to Paya's mercy to keep my hands from his flesh," she said, and began to nip Jack's neck again, Sela made a choking, gagging sound.

"Matriarch! Seriously?" she exclaimed, and the sound of Tik's laugher filled the room as Sela slammed the door shut.

"You love taunting her, don't you?" Jack said, and Tik grinned, pulling up her mandibles into a bright smile.

"What is the point of having cubs if you cannot embarass them?" she said, and Jack laughed and shook his head.

"And besides, she has her own beloved ooman to take her healthy passions out on if they should get too much for her," Tik said, and jack laughed again.

"Poor Robert's not going to know what hit him when she gets home," Jack said, and Tik laughed again before drawing her mandibles up into a sly smile.

"The husband of a proud Yautja huntress should always be on guard for his wife's passions, for who knows when they will strike," she said with a purr, and Jack grinned and patted her solid rump with both his hands, squeezing those solid orbs of feminine beauty in his fingers.

"Don't I know it," he said, making her laugh again.

"Come, my husband, let us shower and rise before your wandering hands lead us both into more rows from our beloved cubs," she said, and Jack nodded, chuckling softly before both of them stretched and unwillingly separated and got up, ready to face the day, oh, the joys of running a clan, there was never a dull moment, unless you counted Yoshi's architecture lectures, they could send suns to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Best Foot Forwards.

As Jack and Tik exited their house they found Sela eleth stood chatting to a tall, slender, black skinned human woman dressed in the overalls of the Saviours, when they approached she turned to them and saluted while smiling brightly at them, "Good morning, Grand Patriarch and Grand Matriarch, how are you both this morning?" she asked, the warm and genuine smile never leaving her face for even a micro second.

Jack didn't even hesitate, rather than salute back he simply greeted her with a hug, "I'm good, Amy, you know as well as I that there is no better way to begin your day than waking up in the arms of the one who loves you more than life and whom you would give your life up willingly for," he said, feeling Tik embrace them both in her huge arms.

To everybody in the Clan Tik eleth was the Grand Matriarch, a larger than life figure to aspire to, a battle tested veteran and exceptional warrior of supreme strength and power, but to those in her family circle she was just Tik, overly protective and loving woman who would die before she let her family and loved ones down.

"Speaking of which, how is your beloved one? I hope he has recovered from yesterday's training session because I fully intend to put him through even more," Tik said with a sly grin, tugging her mandibles up and Amy laughed.

"V'Lek was kinda sore when he stumbled in last night, said something along the lines of why he could see why you were the Grand Matriarch as you ran all the new recruits into the ground and you barely looked like you were warmed up, said he'd never seen endurance and skill like it in all his days in the Night Stalker Clan, also said that other than marrying me, serving under you was the greatest honor of his life, because here he not only feels free for the first time in his life but also feels like he actually matters, like here under you he can actually do something worthy," Amy said, and Tik clicked her mandibles proudly.

"His words do both himself and his Clan honor, you chose wisely with him, young one, he is a good male and a fine example of Yautja pride," Tik said proudly, and Amy laughed softly, making her raise an eyebrow curiously.

Amy waved a hand apologetically, "Sorry, but it always makes me laugh when you call me young one when I'm over a hundred years old," she said, and Jack laughed and nodded at that when Tik looked confused.

"You forget our normal life span, my love, if it wasn't for Paya's intervention or the tireless work of Yoshi and Citrus's hive none of the humans on this world would be as old as they are, in fact, none of those from the originals that escaped the Bad Blood hunting world would be with us today," he said.

"A fact that I'm willing to bet Y'Len is more grateful for than most, if it wasn't for the combination of Yautja medical tech and the hive making that breakthrough when they did we would have certainly lost Monty, but now look at him," Jack said, turning and pointing, the small group all turned just in time to see a group made up of humans and Yautja all in PT gear, both males and females together jogging and they all looked absolutely knackered, sweat was pouring off them all and their gear was soaked.

"Come on, you bunch of bloody saps! Keep up, you call yourselves Guardians!? My wee granny could run bloody circles round the lot of you and she's dead!" Monty yelled, running ahead of all of them, his trademark mustache bouncing as he ran, though, thanks to the gene therapy it was a deep red ginger color and now both his hair and his mustache were both showing touches of his wife's Yautja heritage, in the form of little hand carved charms made from both metal and bone.

Monty looked right at home drilling new recruits, even though he'd been an officer in the British army once upon a time, Jack had always suspected he was one of those who had worked his way up and had earned his commission the hard way rather than just go through Sandhurst, there was just something about a Sergeant Major that any soldier anywhere always picked up on, the way they talked, the way they carried themselves, but it was also deeper than just their ability to shout louder than god himself, it was the deep care they had for all the soldiers under their charge, a normal sergeant turned boys into men, sergeant majors turned men into warriors, women as well, given that the group seemed to be evenly split.

Monty noticed them watching, "Group, attenshun!" he bellowed loud enough to make Paya fall out of bed, the entire group froze solid like someone hit the pause button on the universe, "Group, salute!" Monty bellowed, and he and they all snapped to attention in a crisp Yautja salute of a balled fist to the chest, Jack, Tik, and Sela eleth all saluted back.

"At ease, Sergeant Major," Jack called, and Monty smiled up at him.

"Yes, sir, come on, you lot! By the left, show your Grand Patriarch and Matriarch what you got! Make them proud of you!" he yelled, and off the group went with their stamina somehow renewed.

"Think he drills his wife like that?" Amy said, and both Jack and Sela eleth burst out laughing and Amy flushed and looked mortified as she realized what she'd just said out loud, Tik looked confused, Sela gestured to her mother to come closer and when she leaned over whispered in her ear, Tik's eyes widened and then she roared with laughter too.

"Somehow I doubt it by the charms he wears proudly, though, Y'Len is always smiling when I see her, you may be right, Amy," Tik said, and Amy flushed even deeper, making her skin go almost matte black.

Suddenly there was a clicking noise and a slightly mechanical meow noise and before any of them had a chance to turn, Sela eleth was dancing around, trying to pull something small and shiny out of her dreadlocks, Jack reached in and plucked the small object from her hair, "Good morning to you too, Boo, I see you made the mistake of sneaking into Citrus's hive again, didn't you, I see her girls been hard at work, though at least they took the fucking laser cannons off, nearly burned the damn house when you went after a mouse," Jack said, looking at the little cybernetic cat.

It turned out that the Xeno gene therapy didn't really work on felines, so the scientists and engineers of Yoshi and Citrus's hive had come up with a rather interesting solution, they'd built the little hero cat a fully cybernetic body, the body had a full set of artificial organs based on the designs that both humans and Yautja had been using for years, the science mad Xenos had taken these designs and had enhanced them exponetionaly, plus they had designed some of their own and pretty soon they'd designed and built a fully artificial body, then on the day that it looked like Boo might die of old age they performed a full brain and spinal cord transplant along with a full blood transfusion into the cybernetic body, the result, the universe's first robo-cyborg cat.

Amy had been the most grateful human in the universe that day, those crazy Xenos had given her her best friend in the universe back, but ever since, every time the little cat went near the hive he came out with something new bolted to him, like claws that could slice off limbs, or eyes that could see in god only knows different spectrum's that made Yautja hunting masks look like a bloody snapchat filter, or a tail mounted laser cannon.

"Come on, we'd better get over to the hive, for all we know they put a transponder in the cat and they know the damn thing always makes a bee line for me whenever it sees me," Sela eleth said, running her hand over the purring mechanical cat's head as it folded its ears in.

Both Jack and Tik nodded and bidding farewell the trio began walking towards the large conical hive in the distance, Jack always found it amazing that Citrus had built the whole thing herself simply using a polymer resin that her body secreted, some would find it gross living in a home secreted by your wife, but Yoshi seemed to absolutely revel in it, said it was like being utterly surrounded by his wife's care and love every day.

Both Jack and Tik utterly loved walking through the city, both of them remembered when it was simply a collection of tents and then a collection of little wooden cabins in the beautiful woods, now it was a fledgeling and growing city, filled with life, Yautja, humans and Xenos everywhere, going about their daily business all in perfect harmony with one another, both of them utterly loved the fact that in a way they'd accidently created a utopia, never before had either of them come across a place that had zero crime, the most Sela's Saviours had to deal with was to break up drunken honor fights, or fights between Yautja females over human males, or the occasional fights between human females over a Yautja male, kinda ironic in a way that it somehow wound up being the mirror opposite to Earth in that respect, where females fought over males, though that had been meaning to come up with a system that dealt with both human and Yautja ideals when it came to mating rights, but life here was always on the go and it always kept them busy.

They walked along the paved streets which were made from a mixture of stone and Xeno polymer resin, oddly enough they'd found out that that when you ground up stone and mixed it with the polymer in its liquid form that when it dried it created an incredibly strong, flexible and incredibly grippy substance that was also highly resistant to wear, which made it perfect for use in creating both roads and walkways, though Jack was very glad they mixed in a special factory they'd set up for it, not that he wouldn't have laughed at a load of Xenos running around licking the roads, it just might not have been that convenient.

"Are you sure you guys wouldn't just rather take the shuttle?" Sela asked as she walked alongside her parents as they walked hand in hand.

"I like to walk, it's good to get out and really see what it is we have and are building here, Sela, to really see the people that we are fighting for every single day, don't let this peace fool you, there's going to be a war going on out there very soon and not only do we have to be ready for it but we have to remember what it is that we're going to be fighting for and these people right here as well as others everywhere who are silently praying to have the chance to have a life like this one right here, free and happy," he said as they watched a huge Yautja mother decked out in her armor proudly playing with her cubs in a park in the centre of the city, watching happily as the young hybrids happily played both with her and a couple of pure blood human children as well as a couple of pure blood Yautja cubs that were running around.

No sooner had they walked into the hive through the huge semi circular opening that served as the front door they heard a dull boom and the trio rushed through the corridors into a large chamber where they saw four Xenos dressed in lab coats all now covered in soot and arguing, pointing at a whiteboard and screeching and hissing at one another, there were a hundred just like them all around the huge chamber all working hard on projects of their own, it was like a giant hybrid all in itself, this hive, like a scientific institution mixed with an engineering facility, look at one corner and there were Xenos dressed in yellow surrounded with weird and wonderful little machines and parts tinkering with everything they could get their hands on, turn your head and there were Xenos dressed in white lab coats arguing over math equations.

Right in the centre of it all was a human man surrounded by Xenos looking like a lecturer at university as he pointed to a large whiteboard, on it appeared to be a diagram of what looked like a spider crossed with a combine harvester, probably farming equipment, though Jack still laughed when he thought of Xenos in dungarees with little straw hats on their domed heads chewing wheat sheaves in their inner mouths hissing ooooh and arrr and playing little banjos, but it turned out they were utterly fantastic farmers, it seemed that despite being all black they all had very green thumbs, or at least that hive did, they just seemed to love making things grow and thrive, it was odd really how they all took to some speciality like that.

But they had turned huge sections of the plains into farmland and given that smack bang in the centre was a huge Xeno hive none of the local fauna was stupid enough to invade it, it was like the Xeno pheremones scared the living shit out of anything capable of smelling them, so not even the four winged birds that looked like a cross between a crow and an eagle that utterly loved to eat seeds stayed the fuck away from them, probably learned their lesson the first time they'd tried and a pack of facehuggers that had been set up as guard dogs with strict instructions from their queen never to attack sentient life but given free reign on any animals that invaded their land had chased, quite amazing what good guard dogs the scary little spider-like creatures made, nothing made people run faster than being chased by one of those fuckers, not even a full sized Yautja female with both a headache and PMS who just stubbed her little toe on a bedframe made people run that fast, though on the bright side they did have a handful of winged flying Xenos now, it was kinda like having real life gargoyles around the place as they loved high places and given the hill that Jack and Tik's place was on and its almost pyramid shape Tik was forever shooing them off the house roof when they came and knocked on the bedroom windows to relay a message from their queen named Aine, named for an Irish goddess of love by her King Murphy.

Yoshi suddenly spotted Jack, Tik, and Sela all waiting patiently and he turned to his children, "Ok, guys, we'll pick this up later, all of you, get back on with your work for now and we'll pick this back up once I speak to the Grand Patriarch and Matriarch," Yoshi said, and instantly the throng of Xenos broke apart, each scampering over to their work station, each hissing their greetings to Jack and his group as they passed.

It was still, even now, an odd feeling being in the centre of a Xeno hive and not having either face hugger launching at you or Xenos popping out of walls trying to grab you, even after a hundred years some form of ingrained predator response lingered in a part of the human brain, it was like walking into a lion's den but this place was filled with friendly lions.

"Jack, Tik, Sela, it's good to see you all, and today is such a big day!" Yoshi said excitedly, Jack could actually feel the positivity flowing off him, it was like a golden wash flowing off him, Dream Warriors can see auras like normal people see skin, it's like a light that surrounds people and every action they take affects it, every positive action you take makes your soul glow and lighten, every negative action you take stains it and darkens it, using this a Dream Warrior can see the real you without even trying.

Yoshi was utterly glowing in shades of blues and gold, which indicated not only a good, pure soul but generous one, "What do you mean, Yoshi? What's special about today?" Tik asked, and Yoshi smiled at her brightly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"I've cracked it, after a hundred years of working on this I think my guys have finally cracked it!" he said excitedly.

"Cracked what, Yoshi?" Jack asked.

"The key! The key to non-parasitic Xeno reproduction!" Yoshi said excitedly, looking like he might break into a dance on the spot any moment, and in an instant what he was talking about clicked into place in Jack's mind.

"Your talking about giving everyone the ability to reproduce one on one like every species we know, aren't you?" Jack said, and Yoshi nodded excitedly.

"Exactly, if we can get this to work not only will every Xeno here be able to carry or father their own child, they'll be compatible with every species, no more facehuggers and no more parasitic implantation, no more having to petition people to drum up willing volunteers to implant the next generation into and this would mean every son and daughter of every Xeno hive would be free to have their own mate, not just the hive's queen or its sons," Yoshi said so happily, he looked like he might actually cry, and with good reason, for the Xenos this was ground breaking, it literally freed them from their dependency on others and from the shadow of forced impregnation and death that surrounded them.

"Congratulations, Yoshi, when do trials begin?" Jack asked, and Yoshi smiled.

"They already have, we had no shortage of volunteers, believe me, we've got a contingent of Battle Angels over here overseeing everything, but so far every sign shows that it's working, no invasive surgery involved and god knows that's a pain in the arse, you wouldn't believe how tricky that is on a Xeno when their blood dissolves everything it touches, no, with this if it works it'll be nothing more than a simple injection that will upgrade and adapt their DNA, this will be the birth of a whole new genus for them, the birth of a whole new era, guys," he said, and his face betrayed the depths of the joy he felt, Jack stepped forward and embraced the Japanese engineer and architect, he had worked on this principle for years, he utterly and completely loved his Queen Citrus with his very soul.

As if by magic, said queen appeared as if out of thin air, it always amazed Jack how a creature so large could move so silently, "Should I be worried that your husband is hugging my King, Grand Matriarch?" Citrus said, making Tik chuckle.

"No more worried than me," Tik said with a smile patting, Citrus on the long arm, Jack chuckled as he put Yoshi down and smiled up at the big Xenomorph queen.

"Your king just told us of what's happening here today, I am so happy for you, all of you, looks like we get to observe the birth of a new era for your people and somehow I get the feeling we're going to need a whole lot more humans around here," he said, and Citrus laughed before scooping her beloved king up into the air and planting a kiss that only a Xeno could on him, pushing her big inner mouth into his.

"You got that right, you woudn't believe how many of my daughters are already picking out their human style wedding dresses, in fact, a surprising amount of them are even gravitating towards Yautja males as well, hard to believe that only one hundred years ago we were prisoners and mortal enemies and now the daughters of my hive are wondering how to get themselves a Yautja boyfriend to take them hunting, you really have started something here, something you should both be infinity proud of, of my hive and my children I'm more proud than you could ever know," Citrus said, smiling.

Suddenly another bout of angry hissing and screeching broke out and all their heads turned towards the source, there were a group of eight Xenos in lab coats, seven females and one male who stood slightly taller than his sisters all jabbing at a whiteboard covered in both diagrams and maths, "What are they so worked up about?" Jack asked, and Citrus grinned broadly and proudly.

"They are designing the first generation of long range battle cruisers to be built here at our space dock, the group of them are utter perfectionists so arguments are common," Citrus said, and Jack laughed softly.

"It never ceases to amaze me just how much tech comes out of this hive, in just one hundred years you two have turned this into a centre of not only scientific and technological innovation but a centre of learning, don't think it escaped my notice how many humans and Yautja are currently in here learning both science and engineering, in fact, it prides me how many schools we already have, Cortez and Zara have not only a hospital and the Battle Angels but they have a medical school which would rival any of the best institutions back on Earth, then you have Murphy and Aine whose hive is single handedly responsible for our population having more than just meat in their diet, in fact, before long your boys and girls are going to have to start building freighters to transport our excess for trading, though first I think we'll have to find some trading partners," Jack said, and Citrus grinned.

"Well, Grand Patriarch, I will leave that particular ball in your court as my adorable human says, diplomacy is your field, not mine, now, if you'll excuse me, I have some sibling rivalry to attend to," she said, and marched over to the still bickering group and silenced them with a single hiss.

Jack turned to Tik and Sela, "Come on, you two, let's go see if Tik's Hunters are living up to all the praise she's been giving them, personally I don't think they're a patch on my Seekers but we'll see," Jack said, grinning as Tik punched him playfully on the arm at the swipe at her Hunter Core.

"My Hunters are trained to absolute perfection, if it were not for your Dream Warrior abilities none of you would even be able to even hold a candle to us," she said proudly, and Jack grinned slyly.

"Oh? Care to make a wager?" he asked, and Tik raised an eyebrow.

"Always," she said, grinning, and Sela started making gagging, choking noises.

An hour later, Jack was dressed in his newly outfitted combat armor, yet another product of Yoshi and Citrus's hive, it combined a mixture of both human and Yautja designs, it had adaptive plating that reminded Jack of dragon scales but was designed to be both utterly bullet and plasma proof, though everyone knew that no armor was utterly flawless, get hit enough times with something strong enough and eventually you're going to compromise it, the trick was not to get hit that many times that that happened.

But this armor was full of a ton of other tricks, like the latest in Yautja adaptive camo which cloaked the user, making them near invisible to the naked eye, it had both grappling hooks and jump jets in the arms and boots respectively to allow for easy access to hard to reach places, plus a whole battery of comms and sensor systems designed to keep the operatives in the know at all times, regardless of situation.

"Ok, everyone ready? Now, I know this is just a training operation but this is Hunter group one we're going up against, that's your Grand Matriarch's personal team, Dream Warriors or not these guys are the best of the best of the Hunters, getting into a straight up firefight with them is going to be a losing situation, there are five times as many of them as there of us, that's five to one odds, four of us, twenty of them, our job is simple, get in and steal the sword that they're guarding and get out again, obviously this is a non-lethal operation, a war game, all our weapons are set to stun and so are theirs, shields are deactivated so if you get hit its gonna knock you on your ass and make you do the happy dance, no blades, stun batons only, but we have a free reign on our abilities and thats our ace in the hole, because as much as they watch us train and even train with us they don't truly understand us or what we can do and that will be their downfall," Jack said to the three figures stood in front of him, dressed in the same matte black armor that he was.

"You bet Matriarch again, didn't you?" Ryan said, testing his dual plasma caster gimbals and checking his plasma rifle, Jack looked at him as both Liam and Analise sniggered, in fact, Ryan was the only Yautja in the back of the shuttle, though the pilot was a pure blood Yautja and Jack could even hear her sniggering from where he stood, Analise was a Tamer from Ryan's team and Liam was a Soul Knight, one of Jack's best students.

"Yeah, well, this won't be like last time, this time it's a fair bet on an even playing field, how was I supposed to know she was going to bring back a fucking ten ton Talanak?" Jack grumbled, making the giggling become full blown laughter.

"because you know Matriarch better than anyone, dad, you know how bloody competitive she is and as someone who goes hunting with her routinely, take it from me, you never ever let her goad you into a bet based on hunting unless you want to be cleaning the damn trophy room or doing dishes for a month, because she will head right for the biggest fucking nastiest thing on the planet and kick it full in the balls before roaring in its face and cutting its bloody throat," Ryan said.

"Yeah, learned that the hard way, so did the bloody Talanak, though it is not every day you see your wife driving a bloody bulldozer dragging something that looks like a T-Rex that got into a crate of steroids before hitting the gym into the middle of the town square, though, in hindsight, that was a hell of a party afterwards, as I remember your Shena had a bit to much vodka that night," Jack said, grinning at his now embarassed son.

"Took me and Sela half an hour to coax her down off that damn table, when that girl wants to dance she really wants to bloody dance, hell of a feast though, we fed the whole city," he said, laughing.

"Your mother fed everyone, I just had to cook it, have you ever tried to cook a ten ton Talanak?" Jack said, and Ryan laughed and shook his head.

"Nope, because I'm smart enough not to bet Matriarch when it comes to hunting," he said.

"Alright, alright, lesson learned, ok? But this is different, we need to train and what better way than to test our skills against the best? Let's show them what the Seekers can do, alright?" Jack said, and the other three nodded.

"Twenty seconds," the pilot called back, and the lights went out in the cabin before red lights came on and the four of them lined up single file, the back doors of the shuttle retracted and as the green light came on the four of them leapt out into space.

The silence of space is a startling thing the first time you experience it, the pure and total nothingness, "Tell me again why we're orbital dropping?" Ryan's voice came over the comms.

"Well, one it's good practice and two your mother won't expect it, she'll expect a ground assault, a parachute jump, hell, she'll expect us to come in through the sewer lines before she'll think of us doing this, the whole point is to catch her off guard, I'm going all out on this one," Jack said as he used the jets to adjust his flight path to put him on the green line displayed on his heads up display, next to him the other three did exactly the same thing the four of them going into a head first steep dive, the pressurized suits were utterly contained environments that were utterly heat resistant and therefore could easily resist the heat and stresses of re-entry into planetary atmosphere.

Heat wasn't the only thing to contend with on this kind of maneuver, G-Forces were also a major factor to consider, the suit went stiff and squeezed at their bodies, keeping their blood where it was supposed to be and not rushing to their feet and pooling there as the four Dream Warriors cut flaming swaths through the atmosphere, once clear the resistance of the air hit them, adjusting their trajectory, Jack's plan was to literally land right on the roof, not close to or around the facility they were assaulting, right on the roof.

Stabilising fins popped out of their wrists and ankles and a short pair of wings popped out of their backs, "We're on line, eta to target, three minutes at current speed," Analise said, a Tamer like Ryan, Liam the other Seeker was a Soul Knight like Jack, "Gold two and three, stage two initiate," Jack said into the comms.

"Roger that, summoning now," Ryan and Liam said in unison, Jack felt the energy around the pair began to swirl and their auras began to pulse in unison, far below them as if they'd been waiting which, knowing Ryan, they probably had been, a huge swarm of of the four winged eagle crows began to swarm all around the facility, the four of them activated their active camo and vanished from sight as they got into formation and dived through the huge flock which were right now playing holy fuck with the Hunters sensors just as they were supposed to, in fact, the four on the roof never heard a thing over the squawking and crowing before they were all unconscious as the four Seekers hot landed on the roof which involved swooping in at high speed and firing your jets like air brakes to kill your velocity, they dove out of the tornado of swirling birds and hit them before they even had a chance to see them, let alone respond.

Jack was hacking the door codes before the bodies had even hit the floor, he was tapping the computer panel on his arm which opened the door locks in no time flat, he'd have to thank Yoshi's lot for this one, as the door opened the four Dream Warriors were moving into the stairwell and instantly Jack sensed an ambush, he activated his aura sight and instantly saw right through the cloaking system of the four Hunters hiding below them, "Four hidden," he said to the others telepathically through their link, the three of them nodded and Jack indicated who was to take which one, Ryan went first, flipping onto the railing and diving head first down the gap in the stairwell, boy that son of his had his mother's flair for style.

They each followed suit, dropping a number of floors before catching a railing each and using the transfer of momentum to launch themselves into high speed attack on the unsuspecting Hunters, using something Jack referred to as Soul Shock to knock them unconscious, it was kind of unfair as attacks go as it was utterly unavoidable, even under armor, it sent a huge energy pulse directly from the Dream Warrior into the aura of the victim and overloaded it like a tazer overloading their central nervous system, except it only effected their mind, sending them into a temporary coma.

"Stairs clear, moving to the centre floor to regroup," Ryan's voice filtered through Jack's mind.

"Roger, we're going straight to the objective, now, everyone be alert, it's bound to be guarded by Tik and she will be ready for us," Jack said as he stacked up beyond his son.

"Any idea what she'll have in store for us?" Analise asked, and Jack smiled below his helmet.

"Knowing my beloved wife, something involving heavy weapons," Jack said, and he wasn't wrong, the four Seekers sprinted down the deserted corridors to the command room where their objective lay, as they reached the set of double doors that separated them from the control room where the target was located, Jack held up a hand, he was sensing six auras inside, one of which he knew was Tik's, he knew his wife's aura as well as he knew his own, he glanced at Ryan who nodded an acknowledgment , he felt it too.

"Liam, I want a dead screen in there, make 'em all look like me," Jack said, and the Soul Knight nodded, taking a stance as he began summoning, his energy began to swirl around him like a glowing hurricane, "Analise, you use Echo, make my voice hit 'em from all sides," he said, and the pretty blonde human Tamer nodded and began to focus her mind, Jack turned lastly to his son.

"You go left, I'll go right, you're mother is mine, you know I'm the only one who can match her in close," Jack said, and Ryan nodded.

Both of them stacked up on the door and Jack counted down from three and as he kicked the doors hard enough to shatter the locks a thousand of him burst into the room from every conceivable direction and instantly he heard him yelling, "I'm over here!" "No, me!" It's me, my love!" and a thousand other phrases all at once, sending the room into a scene of pure chaos as Tik and the other five Hunters opened up with the ace in the hole they'd been carrying, plasma miniguns.

Both Ryan and the real Jack moved so fast that they could both see the glowing tear drop shaped blue stun plasma rounds cutting very slow paths through the air, all heading for the pseudo Jack's dancing and bouncing around the room, the Hunters were in utter disarray as this was something they had never seen before, spirits of the dead were running around pretending to be Jack and the illusion was so good it even fooled Tik, who was the only one not cloaked, standing right in the centre of the room, holding her large plasma minigun while her dual casters fired at the insane amount of targets swirling around her, both Ryan and Jack hit the others, one after another, using a series of Soul Shocks to drop them like rag dolls, 'till only Tik was left standing and just as Jack predicted even as her warriors fell left and right Tik eleth never flinched, she stood tall and firm like an immovable mountain of muscle.

Jack sprinted right for her and she dropped the gun, knowing that she had no chance of hitting him with it, she drew her dual stun baton swords and launched herself at him with a snarl but this time Jack wasn't playing with her, this was training and a wager, her batons hit his own with a sharp crack and Jack boot connected with her midriff, sending her flying backwards, "Liam, use Soul Jack," he said as his wife circled him, and no sooner had he said it than the fallen Hunters began to rise and Jack could feel his wife smiling under her mask, that was until they all turned their guns on her.

They never even fired a single shot at her as the distraction of her own Hunters was more than enough for Jack to simply step forward and tap his wife on the head with the stun baton, causing her to crumple to the floor but not before he caught her and gently laid her unconscious body down, "Sorry, my love, you lose," he said, gesturing to Ryan to grab the sword from the centre console where it sat.

"Overwatch, this is Seeker one, we have the package, prepare for extraction," Jack said into his radio.

"Roger that, Seeker one, beginning descent," the pilot's voice came through the comms, the four of them packed up and headed back to the roof and no sooner had they arrived then they heard the engines of the shuttle approaching, seemingly out of thin air a ramp appeared and a floating doorway appeared as the cloaked shuttle hovered next to the roof and one by one the four Seekers jumped into the back before the shuttle closed up and headed back up towards orbit.

"Yeah! We beat the Hunters!" Analise yelled, high-fiving Liam.

"Matriarch is going to be pissed that we flattened them so easily," Ryan said, looking at his father and Jack opened his helmet, making it retract into the neck of his armor.

"Oh, yeah, and how, she never saw that coming but that means she'll be ready next time, she'll drill her Hunters into the ground to be ready for that kind of attack," Jack said, and Ryan laughed, retracting his own helmet.

"Makes me kinda glad to be a Seeker all of a sudden, Matriarch's wrath for failure is almost as bad as it was for being late for dinner," Ryan said, and Jack roared with laughter and nodded.

"A trait that I hear that you're Shena has acquired," Jack said, and Ryan laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, those two spend way too much time together, hey, how come Sela never used to get yelled at? Always meant to ask you that," Ryan asked, and Jack gave him a sly smile.

"Secret father daughter knowledge passed down through the generations I'm afraid," Jack said playfully, making Ryan flare his mandibles until he realized that his father was joking, "She brought her a little trophy each time she was going to be late, why do you think your mother has so many hand carved bone charms for her dreadlocks? Sela used to make them from the bones from the trophies she took during her hunts, when she knew she was going to be late she brings one with her and gives it to Tik before she could start yelling, kinda makes it hard to shout at someone who just gave you a hand carved present made from a trophy from an honorable hunt," Jack said, grinning, and Ryan now looked stunned.

"That smart, sneaky...oh, me and her are going to have words," he said, and Jack burst out laughing.

"Ummm, Grand Patriarch?" the pilot called back, and Jack turned his head.

"Yeah?" Jack said.

"Call from the intelligence centre, they say they just received a call from the Sun Skipper, they're picking up a distress call from an unknown vessel in an unknown language right at the edge of our space," the pilot said, and Jack switched modes like someone shifted gear in his head.

"Divert to the Intelligence centre and send word to my wife and daughter to meet us there," he said, turning to Ryan who was now frowning sourly, this was not good, both of them could feel something unusual brewing suddenly and it didn't feel good.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Space Race.

"Report! What have we got?" Jack said in a loud voice as he entered the head quarters of the Guardian Core intelligence devision, the place was run by all three of the groups, the Hunters, the Saviours and the Seekers, each of them contributing people to what they all saw as an absolute must.

Intelligence gathering and analysis was fundamental to the survival of any civilisation and while Clan Mason wasn't exactly being enough yet to really be considered a civilisation by most standards it was certainly on the way and given that the top players in the Clan all had both combat and military experience of some variety they all understood it.

Out of the three groups present in the intelligence HQ the Seekers made up the smallest number, given that they were the smallest in numbers of the three factions that made up the Guardians to begin with, it had always been Jack's intention to seek out more when the time was right as Dream Warriors were very rare, the ones that made up their numbers so far either came to them from the humans or had sought them out on their own through word of mouth from the Yautja clans, much to their annoyance no doubt but as it was there was less than fifty of them in the entire clan split between the Tamers and the Soul Knights.

The operatives in the room, a mixture of Yautja and Human, all snapped to attention as Jack and Ryan strode in with Analise and Liam following them, all four still in their combat armor, Tik hadn't arrived yet or Sela eleth and undoubtably Tik would be in a foul mood because she lost the bet, but all credit to her she never took that out on Jack when she did lose because she knew that it wasn't fair to resent someone for winning when you took the risk of betting, plus, she knew the second she did that she'd never get him to bet with her ever again and she did oh so enjoy winning, didn't mean anyone else was safe though.

A smartly dressed human male strode up and saluted, "Grand Patriarch, the captain of the Sun Skipper called in, reporting what he believes to be an distress call, it's in an unknown language but given that it keeps repeating the same sequence over and over again, the one part that they've managed to decipher is a set of alpha numeric digits that appear to be co-ordinates and they match where he believes the message is being transmitted from, it's outside of our space by a fair way, approximately fifteen light years," the man said.

"And we're picking it up fifteen light years away? That's one hell of a transmitter," Ryan said, glancing at his father who nodded in agreement.

"How long do you think it took the message to travel fifteen light years? For all we know it could have been sent thousands of years ago by a now dead civilisation," Jack said, and the man who carried the rank of Leftenant shook his head.

"Thats the unusual thing, Grand Patriarch, the captain of the Sun Skipper wondered the same thing and he hooked into one of our deep space relay satellite to see when the message was picked up by it to see if he could work out how long the message had been traveling for and according to his calculations it was hours, the message was traveling at incredible speed, they've either got some incredible data compression method or they're using an unknown transmission method that somehow operates on all normal bands but can send messages over vast distances in very little time, either way, Grand Patriarch, I believe it would be worth looking into," the Lieutenant said, guiding the small team over to a bank of monitors which showed the message and the algorithms they were using to try and decrypt it.

The text itself was odd, like a mixture of symbols and scratches jutting off in every direction, it sorta reminded Jack of Yautja but mixed with Japanese and Egyptian hieroglyphics all rolled into one, the text was rolling down the screen in bright green, white circles were appearing around the symbols and boxes of text connected to them were running comparisons faster than any normal human eye could read, but a Dream Warrior's eye was way faster and he could see the comparisons that were being drawn from the languages available.

As they were watching, the doors opened with a hiss and in strode Sela eleth with a couple of Saviours in tow, she strode up to the group and then looked around, "Where's Matriarch?" she asked, and Ryan grinned at her.

"Patriarch beat her in training, hit her with a Soul Shock so she's probably on her way but I am so glad I'm not on that shuttle, it must be like sharing a cage with a Gorbath bear with a hangover," he said, and Sela eleth laughed.

"Oh, boy, I'm glad I'm not a Hunter right now, he might have Soul Shocked her but I bet all of them are feeling the after effects, do you remember what happened the last time he beat her like that?" Seal said.

"Paya, do I, she drilled the whole Hunter Core into the ground for a week," Ryan said with a laugh.

"Your mother is a very competitive woman," Jack said with a sly smile.

"Understatement of the week right there," Sela eleth said with a grin, suddenly as if her ears had been burning Tik eleth swept into the room, scowling like Ryan had swapped her favorite morning ooman tea for boiled vinegar again during his prank mom phase.

She looked at Jack and the scowl vanished, replaced with a look of embarassment, "So, what is it, my love?" she asked, looking into his eyes, he could see that she didn't resent him for beating her, it had been a fair and square victory, didn't mean that she wouldn't be pissed at losing, just only at herself.

"Looks like a distress call of some kind using some kind of hyper-velocity transmission method that we've never seen before, it's in an alien language that we've never seen before, according to the math of the Sun Skipper the message traveled over fifteen light years in only a few hours so it's traveling at incredible speed, personally I think its worth a look, at the very least we may have te chance to make first contact with an alien species, so potential new allies, especially if we aid them in whatever problem they've encountered, we'll have to be careful as it could be a trap or there's potential for the species to be hostile, but I believe as a general rule hostiles don't send out distress calls," Jack said, and that seemed to cheer Tik up immensely.

"Time to take the Dreamer out for a spin as you oomans say," she said with a grin, and Jack nodded.

"You've been looking for an excuse to take that thing out for a while now, ain't you, my sweetest of hearts?" he teased, knowing full well that since they'd built it all it had really done was sit in orbit of the planet like a silent guardian, it was the most powerful ship to have come from their shipyard and they hoped the first of many, given the work Yoshi's hive were putting in it wouldn't be long before they had a whole fleet of them, now they just needed people to crew them.

"Ok, then let's do it, contact Cortez and tell him I want a team of his best Battle Angels geared up and ready to go within the hour, tell them to meet us at the Seekers training grounds, Sela, get together a team of Saviours, I want combat engineers and technicians, Tik, get Hunter one back together, Ryan, Analise and Liam you're with me, we're going to help these people or at least try," Jack said, and the group split and began making calls at the other terminals.

The Seekers training ground was like the exact opposite of the Hunters training grounds, while the Hunters grounds looked like an advanced military training area with shooting ranges, fake towns and a whole host of other environments for the Hunters to hone their battle skills in, the Seekers training ground looked like a temple that should be filled with monks silently praying, sometimes it was.

Every Seeker was first and foremost a Hunter, Jack saw to this, he ensured that every single one of them was trained in the combat arts before they got near the Seekers training grounds, they had to prove what it took to be a soldier, a true warrior of the Clan Mason, it was generally the rule among all of the forces, even the Saviours, you were a Guardian first and everything else second.

But the Seekers were trained very differently to the Hunters when they became Seekers, they had to learn to harness their abilities and that took very specialized training, teaching them to harness the power of their spirit, to use it to reach out into the unknown world around them, to feel without feeling, to see without seeing, to truly connect with the universe and the other realms and that's even before they got onto their specialities, like becoming a Soul Knight or a Tamer.

So for the most part it was a very quiet, peaceful place, more like a temple than a training school, kinda like the type you'd expect to see Shoulin monks or ninjas, you'd see Seekers dressed in robes practicing martial arts or deep in meditation, some floating above the ground silently, their power radiating from them, some communed with the honored dead and others with plants and animals, the place was surrounded by lush jungle on all sides which bloomed with wild and wonderful plants and flowers in a rainbow of colors, tended and managed by the Tamers, wild animals of all shapes and sizes wandered freely among the grounds and inside the walls, summoned by the Tamers.

In fact, no sooner had their shuttle touched down in the grounds of the Seeker temple than six fire tigers ran straight to Analise, surrounding her in a crush of flame red fur and loud purring, each one of them was three times her size and alone was a fearsome predator, but Analise had raised them since they were cubs after their parents were killed, the six lost lonely and frightened cubs had heard her calling out to them through the ether after she'd felt their pain and despair bleeding through to her, she had called them right to the temple where she immediately took them all in and had raised them.

Watching them with her one could be easily fooled into thinking they were giant house cats, a thought that would be instantly dispelled the moment you were stupid enough to raise your voice to her and find yourself pinned down by six hundred pounds of furry muscle and teeth, and that was just one of them.

They had become the official mascots of the temple and were forever found around the place either training with the Tamers or lounging around in the gardens in the shade of the huge trees, usually with Analise sat meditating right in the middle of them, Ryan was forever commenting how she must have the patience level of a saint or the concentration of a Zen master because it must be incredibly difficult to levitate with a six hundred pound feline trying to clamber into your lap.

Though, that being said, there were two among the number that the six huge feline were utterly terrified of and that was Jack and Ryan, mainly because of the rule of nature as big and as bad as you are there's always someone bigger and badder than you, like Julia Ryan's Talanak which lived outside of the temple for example, there were few things brave enough to take her on, she may be ten tons of solid muscles, scales and teeth, but watching her around Ryan she was like a giant puppy.

Jack on the other hand didn't need a giant pet steroid dinosaur when he could simply tap into your mind and fill it with raw unadulterated fear with a simple look, let alone if he touched you and broke into your mind and flooded it with pain or something else debilitating, crippling you, there wasn't a single creature in the temple or around it that didn't recognise Jack as the Alpha of Alpha's around here.

"Analise, bring Zed, we could probably use his skills," Ryan said, getting a nod of approval from his father as he said it, she turned to the biggest of the fire tigers, a huge seven hundred pound male with what appeared to be an odd Z pattern in the fur on his right side, hence his name.

She nodded and touched the huge tigers one at a time, conveying her instructions to them, the rest of the pack were instructed to protect the Seekers while they were gone and Zed was instructed to shadow her, he instantly fell in step with her as she took him to the Seeker armory to collect his armor, suddenly a shape materalised out of the doorway of the temple, already dressed in full armor of the Hunters, shoulder casters primed and carrying a plasma rifle.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Shena said, slinging her rifle onto her shoulder and embracing Ryan tightly, the pair interlocking their mandibles for a kiss.

"I'm sorry, my heart's star, I've been training with my parents and then we got a priority call, I haven't stopped yet, we're on our way to the Dreamer right now," he said apologetically, and she nodded.

"Yes, I got the call from the Grand Matriarch to gather Hunter teams one and two and to meet her here," she said, teams one and two were the two best Hunter teams there were and places among their numbers were coveted, team one was lead by Tik eleth and team two was lead by Ryan's wife, Shena Black Crest Mason.

From the temple the other Hunters of the teams one and two emerged, forty of the highest trained warriors that the clan had to offer in one place, plus, given that place was the sacred training grounds of the Seekers they knew something big was on.

Suddenly a huge form loomed over them and Ryan looked up just in time to be licked from toe to head, snapping his helmet shut just in time to prevent his face being covered in saliva, jack and Tik both chuckled, there were few things that could cause their son to lose focus enough that he failed to notice a ten ton female Talanak sneaking up on him, his wife was one of them.

"Awww, for Paya's sake, Julia, seriously?" he said, wiping huge gobs of thick, viscous saliva from his armor and flicking it off him, the huge roid lizard gave him a huge toothy grin as she leaned over the twenty foot high wall like she was leaning over a garden fence, her head alone was bigger than the small group she now focused her huge red eyes on, she looked like a cross between a dragon and a T-rex that got into a case of steroids, a huge row of spine like horns ran from the front of her long blunt snout right to the tip of her tail, her arms were much smaller than her legs but she had a lightning fast grab and many Seekers had fallen victim to her sense of humor by being grabbed and scooped up before being tasted and deposited back down in their soaked robes in the gardens.

She knew under pain of eternal torment that she must never harm any of the sentient life that calls the planet home or any given sanctuary within the walls of the temple like Analise's fire tiger pack, a rule she stuck to like glue and no one was under illusions that the huge reptile would die to defend this place she called home and all those who loved and cared for her and called her friend, it was why they called her the sentinel, because none got past her.

Ryan reached out and touched the huge lizard's snout with one hand, Jack felt the buzz of power and saw Ryan's aura entwine and fold into Julia's, it always made him feel so proud that his son had discovered this side to the Dream Warrior powers, that with the sheer force of will and indeed love, a Tamer could tune themselves to any creature's aura and make a viscous, relentless predator into a harmless, loving friend, next to Ryan the second most powerful Tamer was Analise, and the pair made an incredible team and just like a Soul Knight they were never alone as they had the power of the honored dead, Tamers had the raw relentless power of nature in their holster.

Speaking of Analise, she reemerged from the temple with Zed now decked out in a specialized set of combat armor designed for a six legged fire tiger, trust Yoshi's hive to come up with something like that, it worked on exactly the same principle as their own powered armor, only Zed's came with a saddle which Analise was currently making use of, riding him like a six legged killer horse with teeth bigger than most human's forearms.

"Alright, people, mount up, we're heading for the Dreamer, we'll brief you on the way," Tik eleth yelled, and the Hunters snapped to attention in a crisp salute and headed for the shuttle, Julia faded back into the huge trees that surrounded the temple as silently as a wraith, it never failed to impress jack that a creature of that size could move so utterly silently, she was like a giant scaly version of Tik, just with a slightly less scary temper.

The whole group got aboard and strapped into their multi species seats which were designed to be comfortable for both humans and Yautja, Zed sat next to his mistress who hooked him into a special harness to prevent him becoming a seven hundred pound pinball in the event of emergency maneuvers because there was nothing worse than taking seven hundred pound of pissed off flying tiger to the face to really put a damper on your day.

As they rose into the night sky Tik handled the briefing, she informed them that this was a rescue and a potential first contact mission, so it was safeties on unless there was undoutable proof of threat to life, so unless fired upon, no shooting and no pointing weapons at anyone, "The Seekers will handle the contact should it happen as making those who don't speak your language understand you is the realm of their Tamers, our job will be to support them and to protect them, we'll have a team of Battle Angels on hand to render medical assistance to any who need it, King Cortez informed us on the way over that they had already reported to the Dreamer and are aboard, awaiting instruction," Tik explained.

"Do we know anything about what we're flying into, Grand Matriarch?" Shena asked, stroking her husband's armored hand with hers as they sat together, Tik shook her head.

"Very little other than they appear to have utterly incredible communications technology, but we've made little to no progress on deciphering the distress call," Tik replied.

"Forgive me, Grand Matriarch, but if we can't understand their language how do we know it is a distress call?" one of her Hunters, a human female called Leah asked, while Hunters would follow every order given and would follow their leaders to certain death without a single regret or issue, they were taught from day one to ask questions, information and understanding equals better decisions all around, even as larger than life Tik eleth was, she prided herself on being approachable, well, as approachable as a nearly seven foot Yautja female who is a Clan Matriarch and who's temper is so legendary it makes every male Talanak in a five square mile radius wince every time she goes out hunting can be.

"We aren't one hundred percent but according to our analysts the repeating numerical sequences and the transmission source match up, so it would be too much of a coincidence, it matches the pattern of a distress call, but even if it's not at the very least we have a chance to make first contact with a previously unknown alien species and possibly offer them aid, so with that in mind first contact protocols apply, people, we didn't endure six months of Xenos screeching at each other and giving me a headache so bad that I still get flashbacks to write up, and if I can endure that you guys can pauking well use them, understood?" Tik said making Jack smile warmly, he utterly adored watching his wife work, she only had to open her mouth in moments like these to warm his heart with pride, it was like watching a beautiful alien Amazon brimming with confidence and power.

Her words got a few chuckles from the gathered hunters in their bright gold armor, marking them apart from their Seeker counterparts who were wearing a deep black and blue color as they were still wearing their orbital drop adapted suits, now, while the Hunters could operate in space theirs hadn't been adapted for orbital dropping or atmospheric flight, though plans were on the table to have them updated and upgraded but given their nature it was common sense to have the seekers test out the adaptable multi enviroment combat armor first, if it couldn't handle them or their abilities then it was useless to them.

Plus, the Hunter variant was more like an EXO suit than the Seeker variant with a reinforced frame to allow them to handle heavier weapons as well as to handle multiple weapons at once, theirs also had hardened shield emmiters fitted that could generate six foot riot like shields out of the forearm of either arm.

The shuttle exited the planet's atmosphere and the vibrations through the hull stopped and everything grew very quiet except for the breathing of everyone present cutting the air, then Jack saw what they were looking at through the porthole like windows, sat there in the orbital space dock that doubled as a space station like a large disc with a large, long claw like protrusion on one side, in which was docked the Dreamer.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Jack said, looking at the long, sleek ship, it was shaped like a long arrow head, sleek and with a low profile, the bridge was a semi circular area at the centre that was raised up out of the hull, technically it wasn't designed for atmospheric flight, it was capable of it and had been outfitted for it as a last resort, she was the most heavily armed ship that they had, outfitted to take on capital ships if needed, but it was designed with Yautja capital ships and carriers in mind, but if even with its far more advanced shielding, thanks to Yoshi's lot, if they got zeroed in a capital ship's plasma torpedoes and heavy rail guns were going to turn them into a large cloud of meaty chunks and floating shrapnel.

Rather than dock with the station, the shuttle landed in the shuttle bay located between the huge thrusters at the rear of the ship, the landing bay was filled with small, single seat fighters designed to defend the ship against enemy fighters as well as to act as scouts in things like asteroid belts where the Dreamer was to large to maneuver properly or at all really.

The ramp of the shuttle dropped as the engines powered down with a soft whine and a hiss, "Everyone is dismissed until we reach our destination, I recommend you all get yourselves something to eat and get some rest," Jack said, and the Hunters and Seekers saluted and began to separate out, Jack figured the whole group would head straight for the mess hall first.

"Oh, and Analise, try to keep Zed on a short leash, our Hunter brethren and the Battle Angels, not to mention the ship's crew, aren't exactly as used to having a seven hundred pound fire tiger wandering around, I don not want screeching Xenos running up and down the ship, ok?" Ryan said and she saluted her mentor and stroked the back of Zed's head, undoubtably giving him silent instructions using their bond, the huge feline looked at her adoringly and Jack knew the feeling was mutual, he'd seen her training with her pack many, many times, he swore that girl had such control and respect with them that she could have made them dance if she tried.

As the pair headed off towards the mess hall Jack wished he could have seen the chef's face when he saw Zed walk into the mass hall, feeding a seven hundred pound fire tiger must have been a hell of a challenge, Jack, Ryan, Shena, Tik and Sela all headed to the bridge.

"Everything ready?" Jack asked as the bridge crew, a mixture of human, Yautja and Xenos all snapped to attention.

"Yes, sir, we are ship shape and ready to go," the human pilot said proudly.

"Well then, time to take ourselves out there, don't you think? Helmsman, set a course and take us out," Jack said, and the pilot's face lit up with a bright smile that utterly shone against his deep ebony skin.

"Sir, yes, sir," he said, turning and dropping into his very comfy looking seat, the other bridge crew returned to their stations, communications, weapons, engineering, sensors and analysis, stellar cartography, each had a station here on the bridge, Sela moved to the right side of the bridge to oversee her section which, given most of the ships crew were made up of Saviours, was a hell of a lot, Ryan headed over to help the communication team working on the message, Jack and Tik stepped up to a raised platform in the middle of the circular room which was filled with a mixture of screens and holographic displays.

There were a pair of seats set side by side like a pair of captain's chairs, each of them had a series of displays and readouts all over them so they both had everything from the engine core temp to radar and sensor displays at the click of a button, Jack noticed Tik scowling at her displays and seemingly deliberately not looking at him, he got the feeling she was still a bit sore from either losing or the Soul Shock or both, it was something he rarely used in their sparing because it was kinda a cheat move because it was nearly unavoidable, he got the feeling that she was kinda pissed about getting a reminder of just how strong her husband was, which was odd because she usually reveled in his strength, so that left her being sore about losing the bet.

He leaned over and stroked her dreadlocks with his hand, enjoying the feeling of the glass smooth, hot, fleshy tubes running though his fingers, "Something wrong, my proud huntress?" he asked innocently, and she glanced at him and he instantly saw it in her face and she made a huff noise before blowing out a huge sigh, she knew it was pointless to try and hide her feelings from him and he knew that she would never lie to him, it was one of the absolute rules of their love, no lies about anything ever, truth and only truth even if it hurts because then they could work it out together and lies just breed mistrust and that is a thought that neither of them could ever bare, that their truest heart's star didn't trust them.

"I don't like losing and I'm sore from whatever it was you hit me with, I've never seen you use that move before, what was it?" Tik asked, obviously hoping to figure out a way to help her Hunters counter it and Jack cocked his head.

"I always thought you enjoyed our little bouts in the bedroom and didn't mind losing to me," he said, soft enough so that only she could hear and Tik's eyes widened and she shook her head rapidly.

"Oh, no, I wasn't talking about that, my love, I utterly adore that kind of loss because it's you and you and you alone are allowed to see me at my most vulnerable, I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about being beaten so completely in front of my Hunters, it annoys me and makes me wonder if they still respect me as their leader," she said softly, this made Jack smile because he knew that he was the only living being that Tik would ever open up to this completely and he suddenly saw the source of her worries and he smiled.

Jack gestured with his hand for her to lean closer and she raised her brow which while contained no eye brows were no less expressive than the human equivalent, she did so and he placed a hand to the side of her head, "Listen to them," he said without moving his mouth, he reached out his mind to touch all the minds around them, at first it was like listening to a mind numbing chorus of voices all speaking at once, it was one of the first things a Dream Warrior learned upon becoming a Seeker was to filter and shut out the noise, to filter it and sift through it like you were panning for gold.

What she got was a rush of pride, her eyes went wide as the voices filtered through, "I can't believe I get to go on a mission with THE Tik eleth! This is incredible!"

"Oh, wow, this is deep space! I'm going into deep space as part of Hunter one! This is the best day of my life!" these were among the comments that floated through their heads and Tik looked at Jack in surprise when she heard the next ones.

"I can't believe those damn Seekers took us down so easily, I let our Grand Matriarch down, I hope she's not angry with me, I love being part of this team."

"Gods above, those Seekers are strong, no wonder our Grand Matriarch loves the Grand Patriarch, where can I get me one of those?"

"See, my love? Not a single one of them cares that you lost, they blame themselves for letting you down, not the other way around, when in reality none of you let the other down, we went in there fully intent on winning and so were you guys, we had the better plan that day, that's why the Seekers and the Hunters work perfect together, we prop up each other perfectly," he said, and that made Tik smile and he could see in her bright eyes that she felt better.

"What was it that you hit me with? When you touched me it was like my entire body refused to obey my commands and it felt like lightning in my head, like you'd put a lightning storm in my head," Tik said, rubbing her head.

"It's called Soul Shock, creating a storm in your head isn't a bad way of describing it actually, it overloads your aura and causes it to dump a lot of energy into your central nervous system and overloads it, non lethal obviously, but also unavoidable and there's no defence against it, technically the Seeker doesn't even have to touch you, just get into your aural radius and attune ours to yours, ours carries a hell of a lot more energy stored in it because of what we are, so don't worry, my love, you didn't do anything wrong," he said, and she smiled and leaned against his shoulder.

"I still don't like to lose, next time I'll be ready," she said, and Jack laughed.

"That's my proud huntress, wouldn't have you any other way," he said, stroking and kissing her head.

Travelling that kind of distance, even with Yautja hyperspace technology, which could literally fold space and tear holes in it, it was quite a leap but eventually the Dreamer arrived in the right sector, "Report," Jack called, and Ryan's head popped up from his monitors.

"I'm picking up a large mass about four hundred thousand kilometers from our position, it's got to be a ship," Ryan said.

"Are we close enough to get a look at her?" Jack asked, and Ryan pushed a few keys on his holographic display before a holographic display lit up in the middle of the bridge displaying a holographic representation of the space outside, right in the centre of the glittering was a large ship, it was bigger than the Dreamer by a fair bit, at least three or four times the size, it was long, about a two kilometers in length, the main body of the ship seemed to be a long thin tube like structure, connected to the sides were what appeared to be pods of some kind, like circular transport pods shaped like large metallic foot balls, Jack instantly began to notice gaps in the mass, there were twenty on either side or at least there should have been, there appeared to be six of them missing four from one side and two from the other.

At the back of the ship were huge thrusters and a massive drive section, obviously hyperspace compatible, there were weapons ports dotted around the hull but of the defensive nature rather than the offensive, it looked like a cargo ship of some kind.

"I'm picking up damage to the hull and debris, looks like they were attacked, pirates, maybe? Not sure if the debris is from this ship or who ever attacked them," Ryan said, his voice taking on a hard edge.

"Life signs?" Tik asked, and Ryan shrugged.

"The hull appears to be made of a metal composite designed to scatter our sensors so I can't see inside or get any readings at all, probably to prevent anyone scanning their cargo, but we do at least know that this is definitely the source of the distress call, we've back traced it and the symbols on the hull match the data transmission we got," Ryan said.

"Hail them, let's see if we can find anyone to talk to over there, meanwhile move us closer and prime all defensive systems," Jack said, and the pilot moved them into close range.

"Not getting any responses," Sela eleth called.

"Hey, look at this, looks like they were boarded forcibly," Ryan said, panning the display until it came to a hatch that had burns all around it and appeared to have been cut open with some form of torch, both Jack and Tik were instantly on alert, they looked at one another.

"Any response?" Tik asked, and Sela shook her head.

Tik looked at Jack, "Take your team over, Seekers are better at locating life than we are, that having been said, I'll keep Hunter team one here to protect the ship from possible attack, take team two with you," she said, and Jack nodded.

He pressed the intercom on his seat, "Seekers and Hunter team two, gear up and meet me at the launch bay, we're boarding an alien ship," Jack said into the comms before closing the channel.

Jack looked at Tik, "You sure you wanna stay here and miss out on this?" he asked curiously, and Tik pulled him into a deep, powerful and meaningful kiss.

"Like you said, my love, we compliment each other, this time you search the creepy ghost ship because if there is life there you'll find it or my Hunters will, and if not only your guys can ask the dead what happened, meanwhile we'll stay here and try and figure out who attacked them, where they went and if they aren't just lying in wait to hit who ever shows up to help, because aren't they gonna get a surprise when they get hit by a battle cruiser and a team of really pauked off Hunters seeking vengeance for slain innocents," Tik said, and Jack stroked her head.

"See you soon, my love, Ryan, Sela, Shena we're up, so let's gear up," Jack said, and the group headed for the elevator.

Jack flexed his arms and rolled his shoulders, his shoulder mounted plasma casters whirred and clicked, standing up on their gimbals automatically and aligning to where he was looking, adjusting to ensure neither was pointed at his head or even close to it, they reset and connected back into their holsters, Jack tapped behind his head to check his sword was in its scabbard, before finally checking his omni rifle, he was one of the only ones to carry this paticular weapon as there were only three of them in existence, and Jack and Tik had two of them, the other was in Shena's hands which, given she was one of the best markswomen in the Hunters, made sense, these weapons were designed to combat most types of armor or shielding, firing compressed plasma, or railgun rounds or even low velocity ballistics, it made them heavier than their standard plasma weapons, but it made them far more effective at combating a variety of opponents at a variety of ranges, for example over longer ranges the railgun slugs were the most effective, at short range you could either use the ballistic hollow point rounds or the plasma depending on if the target was shielded or not.

Bu as the weapons were untested in combat situations yet, Yoshi's hive had created a couple and had given them up for testing in field situations and this seemed like a perfect time, the elevator doors opened into the shuttle bay with a whoosh and they stepped out to find the team standing in front of one of the shuttles, twenty Hunters stood in front of it in two lines of ten, checking their weapons until their commander appeared then they snapped to attention.

By contrast, the two other Seekers, Analise and Liam, were stood fussing over Zed, "Alright, guys, we are boarding an alien ship without invitation, but indications are that it has been attacked possibly by pirates, this is a mission of mercy, we are there to render aid to any who need it, hence why..." Jack said, and as he was speaking four Battle Angels appeared dressed in their bright white and pink battle armor, it might be eye catching but it was designed to mark them as field medics, all known military laws prevented the targeting of medics in the field as their job was to save life, though, given that they were Xenomorphs they were far from defenceless and each of them had trained extensively with the Hunters before they could become a Battle Angel and they were armed.

They snapped to a crisp salute and took their place in the formation, their faces hidden behind their helmet's face plates, "Well, yes, as I was saying we are there to find out what happened, who these people are and to render aid if we can, so do me a favor, do not point weapons at anything you see unless you see a direct threat to life, example, they aim and shoot at you, but that having been said, keep your shoulder cannons primed, hustle up and load up," Jack said, and the group, including one giant and now armored fire tiger who was wearing a specially designed suit, Jack still remembered the first time he'd been made to put it on so he could operate in a vaccum like them, it was like watching a house cat trying to walk in high heeled shoes.

The flight was short from the Dreamer to the alien ship, they opted to use the same cut open hatch that had been cut open, they locked a docking seal over the hatch, "There's no atmosphere beyond the seal, not sure how far the vaccum extends but I'm picking up sealed bulk heads further ahead, but that should allow us to stabilise the atmosphere in the vented airlock," the pilot said, Jack gave her a thumbs up to do this.

"Magnetic boots, people, and err paws, if there's vaccum beyond the further bulkheads I don't want anyone flying off into the compartments, especially not confused fire tigers," Jack said, and everyone looked at their wrist comp and did so with Analise activating Zed's magnetic paws, the group moved forwards into the dark airlock, activating their night vision as they went, beyond the cut outer hatch the inner hatch hadn't been cut, it had been cracked open with a hacking tool of some kind, they could see the open panel and exposed circuits just to the right of the circular windowless door, "Max?" Shena asked, looking over her shoulder at one of the human members of her team.

"On it, boss," he said, stepped forward and hooking his wrist comp into the locks, now this was not going to be easy as the computer systems literally had nothing in common, so it was more going to be using electrical signals to try and either bypass the locking mechanism or overload it.

"Got it," Max said, and there were a series of clicks followed by a long hiss which was a good sign as it showed there was atmosphere and very slowly the door began to open, granting them access to the alien ship beyond it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Breaker of Chains.

It was pitch black beyond the airlock, the team switched to thermal imaging or night vision which gave everything a slightly eerie blue or green glow, the suits they wore had enhanced optics based off the tech located in a Yautja hunting mask, it gave them an unbridled advantage in the dark, especially if you added in the cloaking tech.

"Anyone else getting a really creepy vibe from this place?" Liam asked over the comms, other than the sounds of their boots on the deck plating as they all shuffled about awaiting orders from the clan leaders the ship was utterly silent apart from the creaking and groaning of the metal sub frame, but it wasn't just the general creep factor that Liam was referring to, Soul Knights are extra sensitive to the presence of death thanks to their strong connection to the Spirit realm, most of them describe akin to being able to smell death.

Jack nodded, getting the same strong vibe himself, the corridor stretched off ahead of them and already he could see the evidence of violence marking the walls, scorching and small holes pocked the surface metal where it looked like plasma based weapons had burned it, so that definitely lead credence to the forced bording and attacked theory, "Ok, people, weapons up and eyes on the swivel, this just became hostile territory, do not fire unless fired upon, we don't want to be shooting members of the crew that may have survived only to wind up being killed by the people who answered their distress call," Jack said, and there were nods.

"I'm detecting a breathable atmosphere, no chemicals, toxins, or viral contaminants detected," Analise said, checking her wrist comp, and Jack nodded.

"Ok, let's put Zed to good use, have him pan and see if he can pick up any scents that might lead us to the crew," Jack said, and Analise nodded, retracting Zed's helmet so that he could smell the air, he lifted his large head and began scenting the air and almost instantly growled, a deep, resonating noise that echoed down the metal corridors.

"He's got something," Analise said, her tone going hard and she released the big tiger who knew better than to run off, he moved in a slow, methodical gait, keeping his nose to the ground like an over sized blood hound, "Everyone, follow the tiger," Analise said, and everyone filed up on both sides of the corridor, hugging the walls single file on either side in case someone decided to start firing at them in the narrow space, the four Seekers were on point with the Hunters in the middle and the four Battle Angels at the rear.

In fact, it was times like these that Jack was glad that they'd gone with that white and pink armor for the Battle Angels as a Xeno appearing out of the pitch black right in front of you was the stuff of nightmares even if they were friendly and wanted nothing more than to help you, they'd probably end up having to fix your heart attack first before they got on to your real problem, at least looking like a giant candy striper they had at least a chance of avoiding that.

"Everyone switch on your motion trackers, if anything other than us is moving I want to know about it," Shena said, and both the Hunters and the Seekers stopped for a brief moment to switch on the motion trackers which were controlled in their wrist comps but displayed the output to their Hud's, a circular display like a miniature radar screen appeared in front of Jack's eyes in the lower left corner of his vision, every second it sent out pulses of infra sound like sonar which were calibrated to only repulse off organic matter, it created a constant low clicking noise in your helmet which to most people would be annoying as hell despite being very quiet, but to trained soldiers like the group here it was reassuring as it meant there was nothing other than them here, or at least in range of the scanner, it was when it started pinging like sonar that you had to worry.

Again, it was calibrated to ignore Hunters, Seekers, and Battle Angels due to a component in their armor which absorbed the waves, so with the reassuring clicking in their ears the team began to move again, heading deeper into the ship, Zed was leading them, sniffing both air and the ground as he followed the scent trail that he was focused on, fire tigers were incredible for this type of work, they were supremely good hunters who could track their prey over miles of open terrain and zero right in on it even in the most densely populated areas like jungles, picking a single scent trail out of thousands of different trails, suddenly Zed gave a low rumbly growl.

"He's got something," Analise said, going tense.

"Nothing on scanners, everyone tighten up, be ready," Jack said, checking his weapon, all the readouts were green, they moved slowly forward, checking the angles passing by other corridors branching out from the main ones, most likely leading to the cargo pods that lined the sides of the main part of the ship, that's when they saw it, dark liquid was staining the floor and walls.

Under their NVG's it appeared black and there was a lot of it, it was on the floor, the walls and even the fucking ceiling, "Is that what I think it is?" Jack said, looking at the huge pool of black on the floor, the marks on the walls looked like someone had used a brush and just flung it everywhere like a Jackson Pollock painting, what was on the walls and the ceiling appeared to be dry but what was on the floor most definitely wasn't by the way it seemed to shine and glimmer as the infra red light hit it.

"Well, if you think it's blood Patriarch then you'd be right, lots of it by my guess from multiple people, there's way too much here to be from one person, not even the biggest Yautja female has this much in her body, but using them as a base template I'd say three, maybe four, using a human I'd say double that," Analise said, kneeling down and scanning the pool's edge as Zed sniffed it.

"There's no way anybody survived losing this much, but that begs the question, where the hell are the bodies?" Liam said, looking around, the blood pool seemed to be located in a cross section junction.

"Look there, foot prints," Shena said suddenly, and they all turned to look down the right junction where she was pointing, there appeared to be a set of black foot prints and what looked to be drag marks leading away down the corridor towards one of the cargo pods.

This was not looking good, Shena glanced at Jack and even without being able to see her face properly he knew what she was thinking, "Alright, people, form up, let's follow the trail and see where it leads us," Jack said, stepping over the blood and moving into the corridor with the foot prints, the group moved to form up on him and Zed once again stepped past him to take point, the large feline led them down a narrow corridor, following the bloody footprints, this led them to a door that was like an airlock door, before they opened it Jack checked to see if there was an atmosphere reading on the other side.

It read clear and the team stacked up, Shena on the right, Jack on the left, she waved her hand and began to count down with her fingers, on zero, Jack punched the door release and it hissed open, as soon as there was gap enough Zed burst into the room beyond, moving fast, if there was one thing anyone on the other side wouldn't expect it would be an armored fire tiger moving at full tilt.

Nobody fired and there was nothing but silence to greet them as the team burst into the room and spread out in a fan shape, what greeted them was right out of a horror novel, bodies everywhere.

"Holy shit," Analise breathed, turning to look at the absolutely horrific scene that presented itself to them inside the cargo pod, in amongst the stacked and secured containers that looked like those that used to be used on cargo ships from Earth many years ago there bodies, hundreds of them, they were just sprawled out and they appeared to have been just dumped there by who ever had brought them here.

It was incredibly difficult to gauge what species they were as well due to the fact they appeared to have been skinned, quite possibly alive.

"By the great huntress," Shena exclaimed, looking at the gruesome scene before her, Jack knelt down and examined the nearest body to him, the species was humanoid, about five seven to five eight tall, though from what he could see some appeared to be taller and some shorter, so they seemed to have human range on height, he gauged that the one closest to him was female by the fact that she had wide hips, breasts, and what appeared to be a vaginal entrance, but her head was narrow and pointed into a snout, kinda like that of a lizard, a point further backed up by the long, thick tail that protruded out of her back above her buttocks, in fact, from what he could see around him they all appeared to be female.

"You think Yautja did this?" Jack asked Shena who had knelt down to examine one of the skinned bodies, Shena shook her head.

"No, my people use either wrist blades or a laser tool to skin and these bear none of the hall marks of that process, plus, if my people had done this the bodies would be hung up, and the work is sloppy, no Yautja would be this careless, there are large chunks taken out of the muscles in places, but I will admit that the process is similar, if I was not here to verify that this wasn't done by a Yautja this could easily fool someone into thinking it was," she said, her voice darkening with implication of this.

"A frame job?" Liam asked quizzically, looking rather green around the gills as he turned his head away from the grotesque scene of death behind him.

"Quite possibly, but without any evidence or reasoning behind it I can't be one hundred percent sure, it could be simply coincidence, but what ever the answer, someone went to a lot of trouble to not only kill the crew but to skin every single one of them, that in itself must have taken a great deal of time depending on how many attackers there were, we should continue investigating, who ever did this could either still be near by and be a threat to our people," Shena said, and Jack could see her husband nodding in agreement out of the corner of his eye.

Jack activated his comms, "Seeker one to Dreamer, come back, over," he said, and only a moment later Tik's voice came back to him.

"Go ahead, my love," she said.

"Possible hostiles still in AO, we've discovered a cargo pod full of bodies, they appear to have been skinned, possibly to make it look like Yautja handy work, Hunter Two confirms that it's not Yautja in origin but has possibly been made to look that way, we will continue to investigate on our end, but recommend going to red alert over there, over," Jack said.

Tik agreed with that assessment, "Be careful, my love, we'll up our guard here just in case and continue to monitor," she said.

"Roger that, my love, Seeker one out," Jack said, and he shut down their comms link, he turned to the group, "Battle Angels, see what you can find out here, Ryan, you and Liam stay here, help them out, see what you can find out, Analise, you and Zed are with me, Shena, leave a small group of your Hunters here to watch over our team while they work, everyone else with me," Jack said, turning back to the doorway as they saluted, he was going to get to the bottom of this if he had to tear this ship apart plate by plate.

Stepping back out into the hall, Zed once again took the lead with Analise following behind him, the remaining Hunters followed in formation, leaving the Battle Angels behind to autopsy the remains to see what they could learn and given that each one of them was not only a field medic but a fully qualified surgeon and coroner they would learn a lot very quickly, knowing them.

Rather than search the rest of the cargo pods, Jack decided to head into the main crew part of the ship to try and reach the bridge, he was hoping they could maybe crack into the crew logs or the captain's log and if they could decipher their language maybe they could figure out what was happening, he knew Liam would most likely be trying a commune now to see if there were any spirits lingering that he might be able to communicate with, where there were dead there were usually lingering spirits, mass graves and places like that always had a powerful link to the spirit realm, due to the strong emotional resonance created by the pain, ect.

Soul Knights with their talents could use that link to forge a bridge to allow what they called a commune to take place, it gathered any spirits lingering to them, it might give them some insight into what happened, if he could figure out a way to communicate with them.

The main corridor ran on for what felt like ever but eventually they came to a set of pressure doors that looked different to the rest, before opening them Jack stopped, he felt something, it was like a whisper in the darkness, Analise looked at him oddly, "Do you feel that too, Grand Patriarch?" she asked, and he nodded.

"There's someone alive in there somewhere," he said softly, then he looked at the Hunters waiting on his command, "Form up, we're going in," he said, and with that he cranked the handle to unlock the doors before hitting the release.

The area past the airlock was utterly different to the cargo area, gone was the cold, bunker like corridors, the area was wide and open, there seemed to be plants absolutely everywhere, on the walls, the ceiling, even the floor was covered in what looked and felt like grass.

"Oh, wow I-I can feel it, all this, it's real, this isn't a simulation, these plants are all real!" Analise exclaimed, looking around, something buzzed past her at high speed but rather than recoil she held out a hand and the little flying thing zipped back around and landed on her out stretched finger, it was a little four winged humming bird of some kind, or at least that's what it looked like, the little creature hopped along Analise's finger, hopping his way up her arm until it was perched on her shoulder, looking at it's reflection in her helmet visor, it was bright gold and yellow but as she watched it puff up its little chest it seemed to vibrate and suddenly it was blue.

She laughed in surprise and the little creature took to the wing again in surprise before buzzing around her head and landing on her other shoulder, hopping along to get close to her visor which it tapped with its tiny little needle like beak, making a slight click as it made contact.

"Oh, wow, this is incredible," Analise said softly as she watched the little bird like creature hop about, tapping on the glass of her visor, Jack spotted another one as it zipped around Zed's head and he couldn't help but smile as the little bird zipped around the huge tiger's head before hovering just outside of swiping range, the pair watching each other closely, the birds were so small they weren't being picked up by the motion sensors, but now that they were inside this little bio dome the life sensors were going crazy, they locked onto the little birds and and logged them, scanning them and logging their DNA profile once the birds were tagged lots of little shimmers popped up and the motion sensor recalibrated, allowing them to pick them up, they were all around them, hidden in the plants and the vines, it appeared that these two were the brave ones, or the curious ones, or both.

The team looked around and swiftly realized that there were seats in the dome, like booths you'd get in a diner with a central table and bench like seats surrounding them in a kind of semi circle, "Mess hall, maybe?" Shena said, looking around and inspecting what looked like a water feature crossed with a fountain.

"Or a crew recreation area, looks like these guys were big into nature," Jack said, looking at what appeared to be a tree growing right in the centre of the room, it seemed to be getting its water from the fountain like structure, but there was something very odd about the tree, well, other than the fact that it was growing aboard a star ship, it felt like the tree had an ethereal presence, one that shone through Jack's second sight like silver and blue wisps, as he reached out the wisps danced like ethereal tentacles, slowly they reached out and then like a snake striking they wrapped around his arm like lightning, causing his whole body to go ridged like a board and that's when images began to flash inside his mind.

He saw a huge swamp filled with villages and mighty cities, some above and some below the surface, of millions of people, all reptile looking in nature, some looked like the ones in the cargo bay, but then there were others that looked different as well, in fact, there seemed to be four separate groups, the images were incoherent and flashing things at random at him, but behind them Jack could feel the whispers of a consciousness, a very, very powerful mind was at work here, one that felt very similar to Paya in a way, that kind of overwhelming and dominating power that he felt when he was around the Yautja goddess of the hunt, was this their deity?

Jack pulled back long enough to beckon Analise over, as she came it was obvious that she was feeling it to, he was hoping a second mind and one more in tune with nature might help him filter what he was seeing here, no sooner had her hand touched the bark of the tree as his was he saw her go board ridged as the tentacles entwined her arm and linked their minds together, "What is this?" she gasped, her voice whispering through his mind.

But as they both struggled to see clearly the visions calmed like a storm passing over and ocean, that's when they both saw it, a huge city surrounding a great tree in the middle of a swamp, nature was everywhere, back again were the reptiles, humanoids covered in scales with pointed heads that looked sort of like the head of a raptor, well, except for the large horns that seemed to grow from their snouts, plus, they were on a humanoid body, well, except for the huge tails, scales in a rainbow of different colors, but somehow there seemed to be a sense of pain and sadness coming from the mind controlling the images, a series of rapid fire images of fighting and of what appeared to be battles and wars being fought for reasons unknown flashed through their minds, of people being beaten like dogs with fists and sticks, then, oddly, of people locked away and kept like what appeared to be slaves, the pain and sadness intensified.

Suddenly the image changed to another place, this vastly different to the one they'd just been shown, instead of flat water filled swamps this was a place filled with mountains that punched through huge rings of flowing clouds.

There were towns and cities just like on the swamp planet, but more spread out to adapt to the mountain terrain, but the reptiles here had obviously adapted, although they looked almost identical to the first group there were differences, like huge wings and narrower tails, they also seemed to have horns like the swamp dwellers, but once again there was more pain and sadness as more images of violence and oppression flashed through their minds, this time including both the reptiles from the swamp and from the mountains, again showing violence and oppression.

Once again the image changed, this time to a place of deserts and lush oasis, this time the people were very different, they instantly reminded Jack of snakes, but a snake like centaur if that made sense, a reptile human like body on top of a huge tail, they seemed to come in a massive variety as well, some that seemed to live around the large oasis like areas, some that seemed to live in the depths of the desert, some seemed to live underground, they looked very similar in part of their body that was humanoid, they had two arms, a torso, and a head, each was colored according to their scale pattern, some reminded Jack of Earth's python species and they seemed to live around their oasis, making their homes in the huge trees, the ones that lived in the desert were smaller and lighter in color, but when the images of these snake centaurs flashed through their minds there was a sense of joy and happiness from the powerful mind, it focused on a singular massive oasis that was more like a giant lake rather than oasis with a huge city built not only all around the surface but on it and in the water as well, revealing some aquatic variants to the snake people, it was incredible, not only was there part of the city that simply floated on the surface but some were suspended above the water on huge white metal beams, but there were also underwater bubbles on the bottom of the lake accessible by elevators, or as some appeared to do, by swimming, this city seemed to contain many different variants of them and it seemed that they had a peaceful life, no images of war showed up, they seemed to be a very technologically advanced people, the relations to the other reptilian races were obvious in the upper bodies, similar scales, similar heads, very similar horns.

The images changed yet again this time to an underground city, it appeared to be carved into the very rock itself, the vision flicked to the surface of a planet that looked like one big jungle, positively prehistoric with utterly huge reptiles roaming it that looked very much like the dinosaurs of Earth but bigger again, right in the centre of this carpet of green, standing tall, was a truly ginormous tree, the vision followed it down the trunk untill it dove into the ground, showing the huge cave spreading out in every direction and became one utterly massive city, lava flows surrounded it and made the whole thing which appeared to be carved from volcanic glass and rock glow with golden fiery light, here lived a much smaller species of the reptilian people, these guys stood only four and a half feet tall and they looked a little like mini raptors, they even had digitade legs and if it wasn't for the fact that they were wearing clothes jack would have sworn that they'd killed the inhabitants and just taken the city over.

But there they were working with tools and forging things using the lava all around them to make things of great beauty and to carve things, they were like reptilian dwarves.

The roots of the tree ran right down into the city and the lave flowed around it but didn't burn it oddly, again they got sense of joy and happiness from the mind, but now also a sense of worry and concern.

A ghostly voice whispered through their minds like a strand of silk, "Scalathor, Draconis, Serpentinus, Raptorlian, my beautiful children, all born of the same home, grown from the same seed, made their way into the vastness of the infinity, my children are in danger from both themselves and from an evil that pollutes them, it twists them and darken their hearts, they forget their father, their home, the blood that makes them and the roots that bind them, hate and bigotry has poisoned many hearts among two of them, the Scalathor and the Draconis fight and repress their own and it saddens my heart greatly to see my beautiful children suffer so, slavery, oppression, death, these dark stains spread like blood from a fresh wound across their worlds, and a poisonous evil seeps into the wound, poisoning their hearts, breeding mistrust of their sisters and brothers, they close their hearts from me and I cannot reach them, please, beloved ones of the great huntress, I beg of you, save my children from themselves and from this evil that corrodes them, makes them blind to the dangers, please, chosen ones, help them before it is too late," the voice said in a soft whisper before, just as rapidly as it came, the tentacles released them both and vanished back into the tree.

Jack and Analise stood there in silence for a moment and it wasn't until Shena touched Jack's arm that he snapped out of his stupor, "What was that?" she asked, looking at them both with concern plastered over her pretty Yautja face.

"Another deity just reached out to us and asked us to help its people, it mentioned a darkness and evil poisoning them, it could be the creeping darkness, it showed us four different worlds and four very different people that all seemed to have started in one place but somehow spread out to different worlds and evolved differently from one another," Jack said, and Analise nodded.

"it mentioned four names, Scalathor, Draconis, Serpentinus and Raptorlian, all reptilian species in nature, I think this ship by what we just saw belonged to the Scalathor," Analise said, and Jack nodded, thinking about the bodies in the cargo bay.

"Yeah, I believe you're right," Jack said, and suddenly something caught his eye, one of the little birds was acting very strangely, it had landed on the tree and now it shot over to Jack and hovered in front of his face and then flew towards what appeared to be a door on the far side of the room, then it flew back to him and then back to the door, it repeated the move three times before hovering near the door, "I think that bird wants us to follow it," he said, pointing at the little creature, everyone turned to look at the bird which once again flew to Jack and then to the door again.

"Let's see where it wants us to go," Analise said, moving towards the little bird, Jack followed her and so did the others, as they reached the door Jack touched a panel to the left of it that appeared to be glowing, the door opened with a whoosh and beyond it was a narrow corridor, it seemed that the plants hadn't moved beyond the door from the mess area, no sooner had they stepped foot into the corridor than they all got a blip on their motion trackers and everyone instantly went on alert and weapons snapped up.

"Contact, twenty meters, that direction," One of the hunters, a Yautja male by the name of Rel, said, pointing, then as he moved a little closer he stopped and swiveled on the spot, "Correction, two contacts, one in that direction, twenty meters, and one in that direction at twenty two meters," he said, pointing down two of the three prongs of the T shaped corridor, there appeared to be one to the right and one directly in front of them, by the the fact that there were doors equally spaced apart Jack had a feeling that this was the crew quarters.

Jack glanced at Shena, "Slow and quiet, one at a time, we'll take the middle one first," he said, and she nodded, motioning to her Hunters, Analise and Zed moved alongside Jack but stepped back because of the narrowness of the corridor as they moved, both of them felt a presence on the other side of the door, Shena motioned to one of the Hunters to step forward when Jack touched the panel to the side of the door and it didn't open, the Hunter placed a small, disc like object next to the panel and it began to attempt to disrupt the electrical locks, two LED's mounted on it flickered to life, one red and the other green, the red one pulsed while the green one darkened until with a click it switched colors.

Jack gripped the door frame and nodded at both Shena and Analise, then with a roar of strength as his Dream Warrior power was summoned to him he tore the door back on its motors and slammed it into its frame as both girls and one tiger rushed past him and into the room beyond.

What they saw stopped them all dead, the room was small barely more than a bedroom and a bathroom, there was a lone figure cowering in the corner of the room, Jack stopped as he joined the others and Zed was growling at the figure but he wasn't attacking because even the tiger could see the frightened figure was no threat to any of the heavily armed hunters or his mistress, it appeared to be one of the winged variants of the reptile people, what had the tree god called them, Draconis?

It appeared to be a male, he was as naked as the day he was born or hatched, which ever their people did, he had rolled himself into a ball and was gibbering in his language which none of them understood, but fear was a universal language, even without their Dream Warrior abilities to aid them fear was just rolling off him in waves.

He appeared to be wearing shackles around his wrists, binding them together, there were more around his wings, binding them tightly and what must have been uncomfortably to his back, there was a collar around his neck and this was secured to a chain which was secured to the wall, he was laid on a cushion barely big enough for him to lay on and even without a chance to check him properly Jack could see marks on his scales that looked like he'd taken a beating, if it wasn't for the collar and his location they could have been forgiven for thinking he was a prisoner but Jack instantly realized he wasn't looking at a prisoner, he was looking at a slave.

The Draconis male had blood red scales with a kind of rust red brown mixture on his belly which was barely visible as he was rolled into a ball, tucking his head in and by the way they were straining he was trying to wrap his wings around himself to protect himself, that's when Jack realized that the vocalisation he was hearing were begging, he was begging for his life.

He stepped forward and held out his hands to his sides and lowered them to indicate for the group to lower their weapons, casters retracted and rifles lowered, he stepped forward and slowly and gently knelt down to the frightened male and Jack could see him shaking so bad his chains rattled, "Analise, do you think your Soul Calming might work on him?" he asked, keeping his tone soft.

"Don't see why not, it's basically the reverse of the Soul Knight battle frenzy and that works on sentient beings," she said.

"Try it," he said, and she nodded, slowly she retracted her helmet and her gloves then very very slowly she knelt down next to the terrified Draconis who tried to tighten himself into an even tighter ball.

"Hey there, sweetheart, it's ok, it's alright, we're not going to hurt you, it's ok, you don't have to be scared," Analise said in her sweet soft voice as she slowly slowly reached out a hand and placed it on the male's scaly head, he gibbered something very quickly and now even his voice was shaking, it sounded like he might be crying.

"It's ok now, shhhh, its ok, we're here to help you, we're not going to hurt you, I promise," she said soothingly, and Jack could feel the energy flowing off her as she tried to reach into his soul to calm it, Tamers did this with the most powerful of beasts, they flooded their soul's with peaceful energy and thoughts to calm them down, it forged a bond of trust between them, other than Ryan, Analise was the best at doing this, that's why she was Ryan's second in command.

Slowly the trembling stopped and very, very slowly the male lifted his head as Analise kept stroking him, running her hand over his scales and his horns of which there were three, two on top of his head curving back over his head and one on the tip of his snout that curved back between the other two, "Hi there, pretty one, see? It's ok, were not going to hurt you, we might look scary but we're the good guys, we're here to help, here, let's get these nasty things off you, pretty one," Analise said very softly as the male lifted his head to look at her with the brightest golden eyes that any of them had every seen, he said something in his language as he watched Analise.

"Look, friend, see? Friend," Analise said, gesturing to Zed and the big tiger came forward and rubbed his cheek against her, then very gently she took the male's manacled hands and lifted them so he could stroke the big tiger, he gibbered softly and obviously nervously, but the big tiger understanding what Analise wanted pushed his head into the male's hands and purred softly in that deep rumbly way he did, this both surprised and seemingly delighted him, he said something and rubbed this big tiger's soft fur with his shackled hands, "There you go, pretty one, see? No one will hurt you, we're here to help you," Analise said, and using her Dream Warrior strength she reached between his hands and snapped the chain like it was made of paper.

The male looked at his hands and moved his arms apart and closed them again, looking at them in both surprise and disbelief that she'd just snapped a metal chain with her bare hands, slowly she took a plasma cutter from her utility pouch and gestured to his hand, he looked at it them held his hand out to her, with a quick burst she cut the lock of the first manacle off, causing it to drop, then the second one followed it and the male's hands were free.

He looked at his unmanacled wrists like he was a starving man looking at a loaf of bread that had just teleported into his hands out of thin air, he was utterly amazed by it, Jack could see that the scales under manacles were lighter like he'd been wearing them for a long time, kinda like the patch of light pale skin you get from wearing a watch, that indicates that he'd been wearing them for quite a while, "I detest slave takers, before I left my clan were debating whether or not to resume the practice, made me feel sick and also very sad," Shena said in a deep growl.

The male was thin, not dangerously so but it was obvious that he was malnourished, not that any of them really knew the comfortable weight or size for their species but something told Jack that it was all wrong, Analise leaned in and very slowly used her torch to cut the locks holding the chains holding his wings, she sat back and slowly the male unfurled his wings and by the way he was wincing it was obviously painful for him, "Let's get him back to our ship, he needs medical attention," Analise said, looking up at Jack and he nodded.

"Seeker one to any available Battle Angel, we need a medic up here, we've found a survivor here, he needs medical attention," Jack said into his comms.

"Roger, on my way," a mechanical sounding Xeno voice came through the synthesizer, they couldn't speak like most sentient races so for them to use the comms Yoshi's hive had come up with a Xeno translator, which translates both their screeches and hisses as well as their thoughts into vocal patterns, they could switch it on and off at will, fortunately, otherwise it would like being inside a giant bird cage.

Only moments later the young Xeno appeared in the doorway in her bright pink and white armor, the male Draconis instantly recoiled back into his ball upon seeing her, though this time his wings wrapped around him too, "Oh, wow, he looks like a dragon," the young Xeno said, her synthesizer adding a feminie note to her voice,.

"Hey, it's ok, sweetheart, it's ok, she won't hurt you, she's here to help you, she might look big and scary but just like Zed here she's a big friendly sweetheart who just wants to help you and make you better," Analise said, very gently stroking the frightened male's head, slowly she coaxed him to lift his head out of the wing ball on his long slender and graceful neck, he looked at her then at the friendly Xeno who approached slowly and crouched down in front of him, hissing very softly and reaching out a hand so he could see that she wasn't going to hurt him, the male turned his big gold eyes to look at Analise for reassurance, "It's ok," she said, gesturing to her.

Slowly, the Battle Angel placed her hand on the male's head and just like Analise stroked his soft scales and the male closed his eyes and leaned his head into her touch, Jack felt a wave of both happiness and sorrow, it made him wonder how long it had been since this poor male had felt a touch that wasn't pain inducing, slowly the Battle Angel stepped in close and in one slow, controlled movement slid her other long arm under him and scooped him up into a bridal carry, he looked surprised and looked at Analise for reassurance, she simply smiled at him and patted his hand, he didn't fight her, just let her carrying out into the corridor.

"Go with them, make sure he's kept under guard, but don't treat him roughly, or frighten him, he's been a prisoner long enough I believe," Shena said to two of her Hunters and they saluted before forming up behind the Battle Angel and escorted them back to the shuttle.

"Alright, let's see who else is alive here, shall we?" Jack said, and the remaining team formed up on him, they began to move towards the other blip on the scanner, this one was in the right hand corridor and no sooner had they entered it than they could see that this corridor was different to the other two, the doors were wider apart and they had some sort of symbol on them, half way down the corridor was a dividing door which split the corridor in two, they cracked the door lock and entered the second half, there were only four doors beyond this dividing door two on either side, Shena turned in a circle and calibrated her scanner, she pointed at the furthest door on the right.

"That one," she said, and they stacked up, suddenly Jack froze and he held up a hand.

"I'm sensing a lot of anger in there," he said, and Analise nodded, Shena silently gestured to her Hunters and they stacked up on the door, the door cracker popped the lock and with a roar, Jack tore the door open and the Hunters rushed in along with Analise and Zed, they were met with a counter roar, this one of pure anger, the Hunters instantly deployed their wrist mounted shields and dropped into a defensive formation, Jack moved in and stopped dead at what he saw, this was a prison cell, there chained to the far was a single prisoner, albeit a rather large one and she was not a happy bunny at all.

It was one of the beings the tree entity had called a Serpentinus, she was a big girl and it was blatantly obvious that she was a girl, she was chained to the wall much like the Draconis male had been, both her wrists were secured by heavy manacles, her throat as well, her waist, and the tip of her very long tail which had been mostly coiled under her, forcing her to sit atop it like a coiled spring, she reminded Jack of beings from Earth mythology called Lamia, half human, half snake.

She looked like a giant Earth python by the deep green and brown scales with diamond patterns running the length of her body, she had a rounded head with a snout like mouth that reminded him of a muzzle of sorts, she had bright pink eyes with narrow, slit like pupils and they did not look happy at all.

She also appeared to be wearing a muzzle that was wrapped around her head, she rattled her chains against the wall and she eyed the group before her, not with nerves but with caution and anger, but there was also curiosity in those eyes, the first difference that Jack noticed between her and Earth snakes other than the obvious was that she appeared to have eyelids.

"A Serpentinus," Analise said, looking at the angry looking female as she rattled her chains again.

"I don't think this one is a slave," Jack said, and Analise looked at him curiously.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"The eyes, those are not the eyes of a slave, those are the eyes of a prisoner," Jack said.

Analise nodded, "I think you should take this one Grand Patriarch, she seems to be focusing her anger on me, maybe because I'm female but I can't be sure but she seems less angry at you," Analise said, glancing at Jack.

"Oh, goody, so you get the scared pretty dragon boy and I get the angry snake girl," Jack said sarcastically.

"P-P-Pretty dragon boy? Why would you call him that?" Analise said, her voice cracking slightly, telling Jack he'd hit the right nerve so he turned and grinned at her.

"I'm not the one who called him pretty one," he said with a grin, patting her arm, Analise was always an easy read when it came to matters of the heart and the blush he could actually feel through her suit said it all.

Jack approached the big snake girl who reared up and he could hear hissing under her muzzle, her chains rattled as she tried to move and Jack lowered his weapon, letting it fall away onto it's sling, "Easy, big girl, I'm not going to hurt you unless I have to, and I really don't want to have to," he said, holding his hands palms up either side of his head to show a less threatening form, she watched his hands curiously and kept hissing at him, Jack stepped closer and closer and she reared right up until her chains went taught, "See? Not gonna hurt you," he said softly, opening his helmet so she could see his face, now her eyes went really curious and her head lowered to get a better look at him.

Very slowly Jack reached up and went to place a hand to her head but she saw it coming and reared back, angrily hissing at him, "Whoa there, big girl, not going to hurt you, here, let me show you," he said, and with a quick movement he placed his hands to her head and before she had chance to recoil he invaded her mind, as he did her pupils dilated, which was another odd thing for a snake.

Jack's mind entwined itself into hers like the tentacles from an octopus, gripping and holding on as she began to try and fight him, in fact, Jack was impressed by just how much of a struggle she was putting up, in fact, even Xeno queens who had incredible mental fortitude didn't fight like this, she had a very complex mind, but like everyone who goes up against a Dream Warrior, especially one as powerful as Jack, her mind broke, her body went slack as Jack severed her consciousness from it, it was the same method he'd used on h'chak to free her, it had other uses as well.

Suddenly the pair of them found themselves in a very white place and the snake girl reared up and looked around herself and then turned to look at her now free hands and body, then she hissed at Jack who stood a few feet away, she shot forward with incredible speed and tried to grab him, but she got a handful of air, she looked around and found him standing a few feet away and then tried again and again.

"You getting bored yet?" Jack asked after the tenth time she tried to grab him, but all he got was angry hisses, he was currently searching through her incredibly complex mind to try and piece together her language, she turned and hissed at him angrily which suddenly morphed.

"Stand fucking still you strange fucking little creature!" the snake girl yelled, and Jack grinned, vanishing as she struck at him again.

"Ahh, there we go, got it," he said, and the snake girl whirled towards him with confusion written in her eyes, she lunged forwards and this time he didn't move, he just let her grab him and like lightning she wrapped him in her coils and grabbed his head with her stong hands.

"Wait! How did you do that? You spoke and I understood you!" she yelled.

"Yup, you're language is very complex, got a feeling we're gonna need translators for this one, don't think my vocal chords can process your speech," he said, looking at her with a smile on his face.

"But I can understand you now, you're speaking my language now," she said, and Jack's smile widened.

"Actually, you're speaking mine, I'm still putting yours together, so I made you speak mine," he said, and the snake girl looked really confused now.

"T-T-That's not possible," she said, and Jack cocked his head with a smile.

"Just like this isn't possible," he said, before vanishing and appearing next to her and patting her coils as she looked at him in both confusion and disbelief.

"Wait...What? How did you do that? Who are you? What are you?" she exclaimed, examining her coils as if to see if he wasn't still really hiding in them.

"There we go, now, instead of jumping at me, you're asking questions and that's good, now, to answer them, I'm not really here and neither are you, this is inside your mind so I can manipulate it just as you could if you knew how, my name is Jack Mason, Grand Patriarch of the Clan Mason, and I am a human being, now, according to a talking tree god I met you are a Serpentinus, correct?" Jack said.

The snake girl nodded, looking dumb struck, "We're inside my mind...wait...talking tree god! You've met the great tree!? You've actually spoke with the great tree!?" she exclaimed.

"Ahh, so you know this talking tree, good, that's a start," he said, and she looked at him like he was insane.

"Of course I know who the great tree is, she's our god!" she said, looking stunned.

"Well, she is a he actually, but moving on, what's your name?" Jack said, and the snake girl looked at him aghast.

"A he? You think the great tree is a he? Are you insane? Everyone knows that she's a she!" the snake girl said angrily, and Jack smiled before waving his hand and taking them into his memories, replaying his conversation with the great tree and the snake girl's mouth fell open as she watched it happening all around her like she was actually there.

"T-T-This is impossible!" she exclaimed, and Jack waved his hand, making the memory vanish and returning them to the white area, she stared at him in disbelief, "W-W-What are you? The great tree called you the beloved ones of the great huntress?" she asked.

"I'm a human being, but more than that I'm what's called a Dream Warrior, it's how I can invade your mind like this, all of this is not real, it's an image I'm projecting into your mind so we can communicate, now, if you would be so kind as to tell me your name?" Jack said.

The snake girl drew herself up, "My name is Celia Diamondscale, daughter of Leeana Diamondscale, leader of the Jungle Territories," the snake girl said, drawing herself up and folding her arms over what was a rather impressive bosom and looking at Jack like he should know what that means.

"Ok, sounds important, next question, why are you in a cell chained up like a prisoner?" Jack asked.

"Becasue I am being held hostage, a group of fucking Scalathor managed to hijack my ship as I was returning from a diplomatic mission to Lethian Prime, the homeworld of the Raptorians, they killed my crew and took me before they paid off the freighter captain and her crew to take me to a set of spacial coordinates where they were to lock me in a cargo pod and jettison me into space where their cohorts were to pick me up and take me from there," Celia said, and Jack cocked his head curiously.

"Ok, they were either really shit kidnappers or they were really confident their plan would work if they discussed their whole plan in front of you," Jack said, and Celia shook her round, pointed head.

"Those Scalathor fucks forget my people don't hear like theirs, they think blindfolding me and putting an aural deadener on me will stop me from hearing, they forget my kind can hear through our scales and through ground vibrations, so when they spoke near me I could feel it," she said proudly.

Jack nodded, pursing his lips, "Useful talent," he said, and Celia looked proud and nodded.

"Not as useful as being able to tap right into someone's mind whether they like it or not," she said with a slight hint of accusation in her voice.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but with the language barrier it was the only way I could get a conversation going that didn't result in someone getting hurt through misunderstanding," he said, and that seemed to calm her a bit.

"I understand, we use what skills we have in order to get ahead, now, would you care to explain who you are and what you're doing aboard a Scalathor ship, are you the ones that attacked it? Are you mercenaries hired to recapture me?" she asked, and Jack shook his head.

"No, we were responding to a distress call our deep space system picked up, we're from a territory quite a few light years from here, we arrived, found this ship and when we saw evidence of battle damage and breaching we decided to board and see if we could render assistance, so far you and one other are all we found alive, the whole crew has been murdered and, err, skinned," Jack said, hesitantly adding that last part.

The look on her face told Jack of her shock, "Skinned?" she exclaimed, and he nodded, she looked rather sick then she locked onto the details of what he'd said.

"A survivor? Scalathor?" she asked, her face darkening, and Jack shook his head.

"No, a male Draconis, he was locked up in one of the crew quarters, I believe they were either planning on selling him as a slave or keeping him as one," Jack said, and that took her by surprise.

"They had a male Draconis? Bet that pissed off the Draconis, they are notoriously controlling over their males, flying fuckers have no respect, the Scalathor treat their males like shit but the Draconis are positively vile towards them, bigoted backwards animals, the lot of them, I honestly feel ashamed to share the birth world with those animals, enslaved Draconis males are prized among Scalathor females and visa versa, fucking animals," Celia said.

"Do you know who attacked the ship?" Jack asked, and Celia shook her head.

"I heard it, lots of noise, shooting, screaming, and then everything went very, very quiet, that was four days ago, or at least I think so, my kind are very good at time keeping but it's kinda hard to tell in here," she said, and Jack nodded.

"Alright, well, I have you're language down now since you've been speaking it for the last ten minutes, I've got no reason to doubt anything you've said as I've detected not a single lie from you, I don't like to reach into people's memories without their permission but I'm basically a human lie detector, so I'm going to separate us now, you will be able to understand my language thanks to the seed I planted and I'll be able to understand you, we'll transfer you to our ship as our guest until we get to the bottom of this but don't worry, no harm will come to you and we'll get you back to your people," Jack said, Celia eyed him curiously and then nodded.

"Then you have my thanks, Grand Patriarch Jack Mason," she said, and he smiled.

"Just call me Jack, ok?" he said, and with that he disconnected their minds, they still had a mystery to solve after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Diplomatic Immunity.

Jack woke up and stepped back from Celina, releasing her head as he did and the large Serpentinus female shook her head as if trying to clear cobwebs from it and he saw her large, slit shaped pupils dilating as her consciousness realigned itself.

"Any luck?" Analise's voice snapping Jack's mind back into reality, jumping into and out of someone's mind could be really disorientating.

"Yeah, actually I did, this here is Celia Diamondscale, she's a diplomat of the Serpentinus people, she was on a diplomatic mission when her ship was attacked by Scalathor pirates and she was taken hostage, most likely for some kind of ransom, it seems the races really don't get along all that well, or at least the Scalathor and Draconis don't, so they handed her over to this bribed freighter crew and they were to transport her to a drop off point when they themselves got ambushed by assailants unknown, so that now leaves us with a question, was the target killing the crew or actually robbing them and if that's the case why leave all the rest of the cargo, why not just take the ship?" Jack said.

Analise shrugged, "I hope maybe we'll find answer on the bridge, umm, any luck with her language?" she said, and Jack nodded, reaching up and touching the side of her head, causing Analise's eyes to brighten and mirror his own in color for a moment as what he'd learned of Celia's language was transfered to her, Dream Warrior memory transfer was an incredibly useful talent, it not only allowed them to spread knowledge and experiences among each other without any ambiguity of description, they simply lived them as the owner of the original memory did, but it could also be used in the way that Jack was using it now, to transfer language from one person to another, so now there were two of them that would be able to understand what she was saying, plus, Jack had left Celia with the knowledge of how to speak English whic,h even if she couldn't speak it, she'd be able to understand what was being said to her, plus, now there were two Dream Warriors capable of transferring her language to others.

Celia rose up to her full height and sat up on her coiled tail section and looked at them, "Alright, let's get you out of those restraints, big girl," Jack said, turning his attention to the large serpent girl, she nodded and offered no resistance as Jack used his own plasma cutter to break the restraints, once free, Celia slowly and stiffly unwound herself and suddenly they got a real look at how big she truly was, her coils would easily fill the room if she wasn't wound tightly, she had to be at least twenty feet head to tail.

Her tail section was as thick as a decent sized tree trunk and Jack could see the solid, pure muscle rippling and undulating under her glass smooth green scales, "Thank you, Jack Mason, you would not believe how much of a relief it is to finally be able to stretch my tail," Celia said, surprisingly in English, it appeared the language transference had stuck and it also appeared that her vocal chords were complex enough to be able to recreate the sounds of their language, though it did give her a rather interesting accent.

She seemed to really draw out sounds and like a pure cliche she really drew out her S sounds which made Jack smile slightly as he realized she actually sounded what he'd imagined she'd sound like before he spoke to her, "You're welcome, Celia, ok, follow us and we'll take you back to our shuttle, you'll have to wait there with the Draconis male we rescued while we secure the rest of the ship before we transport you back to our ship where we will get you some comfortable quarters along with some hot food," Jack said, and Celia smiled an oddly pleasant smile, at least her variant of her species didn't appear to have fangs, but then there were those who would probably be creeped out by a Yautja's smile when they drew up their mandibles, though to Jack, seeing his wife smile was always Jack's happiest moments, well, apart from seeing her pulling the Yautja version of an ahegao face and knowing he was the cause.

"Hello, Celia, my name is Analise, I'm a member of the Tamer section of the Seekers and this here his Zed, don't let his looks fool you, he's a sweetheart," the young human tamer said, stroking the big fire tiger's head as he leaned into her and looked adoringly at his mistress.

Celia cocked her head and looked at her, "You are a female of your species, correct?" she asked, and Analise nodded in affirmation.

"Yes, and Jack is a male," Analise said as the big snake girl moved forwards to examine her closely.

"You are small for a female, is there something wrong with you?" Celia asked so bluntly that it took both Jack and Analise aback, but then she did kind have a point really, a great many species had the females as the larger of the two genders, in fact, it was only really mammals that seemed to have the opposite to this rule, well, generally.

It was certinally true of the Yautja and by her reaction it must be true of Celia's species too and given her knowledge of the other races in her strata it must be true of the other three as well, "No, males are generally bigger in my species, no more capable really, they are stronger but females are more flexible and agile so it tends to even out, though when it comes to Dream Warriors we're about the same, though Jack is our leader and the most powerful of us all," Analise said, making Celia look at him curiously.

"You have an interesting society, I would very much like to learn more about your kind," Celia said, and Jack nodded.

"And we'd be happy to answer all your questions and trust me we have our own for you too, but let's get this place secure and find out what's going on here first," Jack said, gesturing to the doorway and Celia nodded in agreement but before he could turn she leaned down close to him and flicked her very long, thin forked tongue out at him like she was tasting the air around him, making him jump but rather than explain she just cocked her head and smiled at him like it required no explanation.

Watching Celia slither along the ground was rather interesting, she held the humanoid part of her body well above the ground as her tail section propelled her along, it looked like a rather counter intuitive method of movement but she both looked surprisingly graceful and fluid as she slithered along next to them as they headed out of the cell exit.

That's when she caught sight of one of the Yautja Hunters that had acompanined them and she got curious again, Jack and Analise transfered the language to all of the Hunters so that they could understand her and while they did that she moved herself around him, looking like she was going to wrap him in her coils, Jack saw him glance at him for instruction on what to do to politely fend off the curious serpent girl, but before Jack could say a word Celia spoke.

"Are you a different form of human?" she asked, and the Hunter shook his head as she leaned in, trying to see him properly through his helmet visor.

"No, I am a Yautja, we are a totally a separate species but we are all members of the same clan," the Hunter called T'Ven said.

"Clan? Is that like a family?" she asked him, moving close enough to his helmet that her tongue actually flickered over his visor, leaving marks on it,.

"Sort of, but it's more extended and complex than that," he said, obviously trying to search for a way to explain it to her.

"Basically it's based off the Yautja hunting clan and put very simply a clan is a collection of families and individuals grouped together for mutual benefit and united by their beliefs, it's made up of multiple unrelated species and it is more complex really but that's a simplistic way of explaining it," Jack said, and Celia turned to face him, uncoiling from around T'Ven and moving back to him, she really didn't seem to understand personal space very well.

Celia barraged them with questions as they escorted her through the ship back towards the where the shuttle was docked, Liam must have heard them talking as they came down the corridor, as he appeared in front of them Celia stopped dead in her tracks and Jack saw her tense up and puff herself up, a threat response maybe?

"Don't worry, Celia, this is Liam, he's another one of our human Dream Warriors, the large handsome Yautja human hybrid behind him is my son Ryan, the leader of the Tamer section of the Dream Warriors," Jack said as Ryan appeared behind Liam and even behind his visor Jack saw his eyes widen as he took in the huge serpent female before him.

"Your son? Then your mate is one of the Yautja race? Is she your slave?" Celia asked, and Analise snorted a laugh, causing Celia to look at her curiously and with a hint of annoyance in her golden eyes.

"I would love to see what would happen to someone who tried to enslave my beloved wife, no, scratch that, I have seen it and it was not a good day for them, I'm pretty sure the ones that survived are to this day still trying to dig their detached limbs out of various bodily orifices," Jack said.

"What did she say? Somehow I get the feeling it was about Matriarch," Ryan asked, and Jack laughed this time and nodded.

"She wondered if because you are my son if Tik was my slave," Jack said, and Ryan snorted a laugh, making Celia look even more annoyed.

"Well, forgive me for not knowing the complex nature of your society," she spat angrily, and Jack realized that she really didn't like being laughed at, she was scowling at them and had her arms folded over her ample chest.

"My apologies, Celia, it was not my intention to offend you and we were not laughing at you, simply at the idea of my beloved wife being a slave to anyone, if you knew her and when you meet her you will truly understand what we found funny, let's just say there is not a person alive who could subjugate my beloved wife, but to explain for you in our society all members of the clan are equal, there is a leadership hierarchy of course, but all members of the clan are free to make their own choices and to lead their own lives, we don't believe in restricting love based on species or gender or even to a degree, age, with the obvious exception of children, so in our clan you are free to fall in love with anyone free of judgement and if they love you too then you're golden, so a man can love a woman or a man, a human can love a human, or a Yautja or a Xenomorph of either gender," Jack explained, and Celia seemed to calm down as her curiosity took over.

Genuine surprise seemed to have painted itself over her features, both Jack and Analise stepped forward and with a simple movement they transfered the Serpentinus language to both Ryan and Liam so that they could understand her, "You mentioned Xenomorphs, what are they?" Celia asked as she watched the memory transfer take place, that's when it hit Jack, she didn't understand Xeno, so he stepped forward and gestured for her to come down to him, she looked confused but she did so and he touched her head and pushed the Xeno language into her mind, granted they were telepathic and this could usually be done only by a queen, but Dream Warriors who had received their kiss directly from a queen could also forge this mental bond.

Once done he pointed into the cargo container beyond Ryan and Liam, "They are," he said, indicating the Battle Angels hard at work on the bodies of the dead crew, one of the Battle Angels noticed them and scurried over to get a look at the huge and now utterly horrified serpent girl who'd now clocked the skinned dead bodies.

"B-B-By the great tree! As much hatred as I held for this crew nobody deserves to die like this!" Celia exclaimed, looking like she was about to be sick.

"Here, lean on me, I will accompany you to to the shuttle, Lady Celia, and we can get one of our Battle Angels to check you over," Liam said, stepping forward and taking the large serpent woman's arm, but rather than flinch out of his grasp she allowed him to lead her away towards the hatch where one of the Battle Angels was dealing with the Draconis male.

Jack Turned to Analise, "Let's head for the bridge, if we're going to find out what happened here that's where we're going to find it," he said, she gave a nod and fell in step with him along with the Hunters.

The main bridge wasn't that hard to find as it was really the only place they had left to check, following the maze of corridors they finally reached the freighter bridge, the bridge was much smaller then the Dreamer's bridge, having only three seats, one was in the centre of the circular room and obviously belonged to the captain, the other two were directly in front of it, forming a kind of triangle shape, one would obviously be the pilot's seat and the other would probably be the comms and sensors, but as to which of the two was which was anyone's guess as they still hadn't deciphered the language.

"Seeker one to the Dreamer, we've reached the bridge, so far we've recovered two survivors from the ship, not the crew though, one slave and one prisoner who was being held as a hostage, two separate species, it seems rather than find a single new species we've found four different species all born of the same world originally and seemed to have spilt off, oh, and me and Seeker Three met their deity, it's a talking tree, over," Jack said.

"Did you just say a talking tree? over," Tik's surprised voice exclaimed.

"Yup, it's called the Great Tree and it wants our help to try and save its people, though it seems to believe that they are a threat to themselves, there's a lot to explain, more than I can go over on the comms, we're going to try and crack into the computer and see if we can download the logs and their star charts, but the question remains here, what do we do with the ship? Are we just going to leave it here, take it with us back to our space or destroy it? Or do we try and take it back to the Scalathor and hope they don't misunderstand our intentions? Over," Jack said.

Tik was quiet for a moment before coming back to him, "If someone is trying to frame my people for murdering the crew then we need to tread very cautiously, maybe the person who was being held hostage could shed more light on it, did they shed any light on who killed the crew? Over," Tik asked.

"No, nothing, she heard it happening though, her people have the ability to hear through their skin by sensing the vibrations, she's called Celia Diamondscale and her people are called the Serpentinus, she's an ambassoder for her people so she should have some good insights into making first contact with the other races, if you want I can have Seeker Four bring her and the Draconis slave over while we wait here, over," Jack said.

Tik seemed to mull this over before coming back to him, "No, I think it would be best to bring you all back together, the pair should be ok on the shuttle for the time being, they've got Seeker Four and the Battle Angels taking care of them, see what you can get from the computers and then we'll make a decision on what to do, so far though I'm leaning towards destroying the ship if these people were taking slaves and hostages then I am inclined to believe that the goods they are transporting are either ill gotten or bought with the proceeds of blood money and I do not believe that anyone should be allowed to profit from either piracy or slavery, Hunter One out," Tik said and Jack shut the comms.

"Wow, the Grand Matriarch sounds pissed," Analise said, looking at Jack and he nodded.

"My beloved really hates both slavery and hostage taking, especially after what happened to our son where her previous clan put him through a trial by combat after taking him as a kind of hostage after discovering his lineage as both human and Yautja, even to this day that kind of bigotry exists," Jack said.

Analise nodded and looked at Zed thoughtfully as she rubbed his large head, "Sometimes I forget what's going on in the universe at large having grown up in the clan, it's so easy to take it for granted how good we have things as children of Clan Mason," Analise said, and Jack smiled.

"That actually makes me happy in an odd way because it means we succeeded in what we were trying to achieve with our society, a peaceful place away from the rest of the universe born of love and freedom and that's what we achieved," Jack said as Analise nodded in complete agreement.

Jack turned to Shena, "Alright, Shena, your guys are up, see what you can get from the computer," he said, and Shena nodded and took two of her Hunters over to one of the terminals and began unpacking decryption equipment, they began work as Jack decided to see if he could pull a commune here, he moved to the captain's chair and noticing a large hole in the back of the chair which was obviously for their tails to fit through, he sat down wondering to himself what chairs for the Serpentinus would looks like, would they even have chairs or furniture like they knew it?

"Are you doing a commune? Do you need any help?" Analise asked, and Jack glanced at her, being a Tamer, this was outside of her talents really, but Analise was always determined to learn all she could and even though she couldn't initiate a commune on her own she could join a Soul Knight as they initiated one if they allowed her to connect to them.

"Not this time, kiddo, I need you watching my back, I..." Jack began, but before he could even finish his sentence alarms began blaring and red lights began flashing, causing their night vision to flare.

"Report!" Shena exclaimed, looking at the two Hunters working on the computer.

"We tripped some sort of virus! They booby trapped something in here but we can't read enough of this code to tell where the hell it's coming from!" one of the Hunters exclaimed, working furiously at his virtual keyboard.

"It's no good, this damn thing is like a fucking hydra program! Every time I isolate one, two more pop up and it's invading everything and...oh shit, I can't be a hundred percent here but I think it's trying to overload the hyper drive!" the second Hunter exclaimed.

"Unplug now! Everybody out! We're getting the fuck out of here!" Jack yelled, and both Hunters yanked their connectors as Jack triggered his comms, "Everybody, abandon ship! Back to the shuttle right fucking now! The ship is going to blow! Seeker One to the Dreamer, back up to a safe distance, the hypercore is going to go critical!" Jack yelled before shutting the comms down, knowing Tik would only argue with him.

It seemed that the virus trap they'd unleashed triggered a cascade of epic proportions which had triggered just about every system on the ship, sending the whole thing bat shit crazy, doors opened and closed at random speeds, some didn't open at all, lights flashed on and off in a sensory breaking strobe effect, not to mention that the whole ship seemed to be coming apart at the seams, they could hear muted explosions from parts of the ship, everyone made sure their suits were sealed which Analise did for Zed as well and after they got slammed into the ceiling after the gravity began to reverse on them they activated their magnetic boots which while they slowed their running down at least they stuck to the floor.

But even despite the ship quake shaping the whole place they managed to make it back to the shuttle, where they found Liam at the controls trying to hold the shuttle in place so that the seal didn't break, "are we the last ones? Everyone sound off!" Jack yelled, and everybody called back, revealing that everyone was aboard, plus their two new acquisitions, Celia was clinging on to the back of the pilot seat as she tried to look over Liam's shoulder while their Draconis friend had rolled himself into a ball and was wailing in fear, he was being comforted by one of the Battle Angels and no sooner had he set eyes on Analise he grabbed onto her and refused to let go, so she sat down next to him and tried to reassure the terrified young male by stroking his horned head like she had in the bedroom.

"Liam, seal us up detach us and get us the fuck out of here!" Jack yelled, and Liam did just that, swinging the shuttle around and hauling ass towards the Dreamer but as it turned out they'd made it just in time, as they'd only been flying for a total of ten second before the ship exploded behind them.

Explosions in space aren't like they are in the movies, it's utterly silent, there was a bright flash and the blast wave began chasing them as the hypercore from the ship's hyperdrive went critical and exploded with enough power to make a nuke look like a firecracker.

"Hold on to your arse, tail or what the fuck ever, here it comes!' Liam yelled, and everybody braced for impact before gravity seemed to cease to exist as they got tossed around like an empty can riding a hundred foot wave, sparks exploded out of panels all around them as their shielding and armor fought against the pressure assaulting them from all directions until, just as agressively and suddenly as it started, it stopped.

Jack felt like a ball bearing that had found itself tossed into a blender, "Uggghh, sound off, is everyone still alive?" he said as he tried to raise from the floor, everybody had been pretty much strapped in so they were ok, the only ones that weren't were the four Seekers and their two new friends, well, one new friend as it looked like Analise had managed to get the young Draconis strapped in before the shit had it the fan and they seemed to be having some sort of role reversal moment as she was now upside down in his lap with Zed piled on them both, though by the thumbs up she gave he knew she was ok.

Shena had managed to grab hold of her husband and stopped him from bouncing around like a metal pinball in the cabin like his father, but it looked like by the muffled cries from the cockpit Liam had it worse as he now appeared to be buried under a mound of scales and coils, it looked like Celia had been pitched into the front and buried him under her large mass, "You both ok?" Jack said, standing up and addressing them as they tried in vain to disentangle themselves, a thumbs up appeared from between Celia's coils, indicating that Liam was ok and a moment later a second one appeared as Celia copied Liam.

With a bit of help from Jack, Liam managed to disentangle the embarassed serpent woman from Liam's lap and she scurried back into the cabin and perched herself next to the seats and by the look on her face and her body language holding her arms clamped tightly over her chest and her tightly clamped jaw Jack could see she was both deeply embarassed and mortified about something.

"Report," Jack said, looking at Liam who was furiously mashing buttons on the controls.

"Most of the systems are down or just utterly toast, we've lost shields, weapons, drive, so we're utterly defenceless and adrift and the main comms relay is down," Liam said, their suit comms were tied into this relay to allow them to broadcast to the Dreamer in real time, their suit comms could still broadcast but there would now be a delay, but that was better than nothing.

"Seeker one to the Dreamer, we survived the blast, but we're dead in the water, comms relay is down now, broadcasting in the dark, we require pick-up, out," Jack said, and thirty seconds later a reply came back.

"Roger that, my love, we're on our way, hold on!" Tik's both worried and determined voice said.

"Ok, people, pick-up's coming," Jack said, and no sooner had he said it than a shadow washed over them as the Dreamer pulled up over them, there were two sharp clanks as the grapple attacked magnetic clamps to the hull and they were towed into the shuttle bay, once it was dropped on the deckplate Jack began pumping the hatch release as the automatic release wasn't working and by the time he got it open Tik appeared like a phantom out of thin air and reached into the shuttle and yanked him out into a tight embrace.

"I'm alright, my love, I'm ok, we all are," jack said soothingly as he lowered his helmet so she could clamp his face and kiss him deeply.

"You scared the living daylights out of me, my love!' she exclaimed, and no sooner had Ryan taken a step through the doorway than it was his turn for the worried huggy Tik treatment as she grabbed him into a tight hug and lifted him off his feet.

Shena stepped out behind her husband and grinned at his fate as he squirmed and tried to free himself from his mother's death grip, that's when he saw another face peeking out behind her and Jack smiled, he reached out and touched his wife's face and with a flash he transfered the Serpentinus language into her mind and Tik looked at him oddly, letting Ryan go who now seemed to be having problems breathing, "Tik eleth Mason, may I introduce ambassoder Celia Diamondscale of the Serpentinus people, Celia Diamondscale, may I proudly introduce Tik eleth Mason of the proud Yautja people and my loving wife and Grand Matriarch of Clan Mason," Jack said as the Serpentinus female slithered out of the damaged shuttle hatch and drew herself up before Tik who looked up at her in surprise.

But Tik being Tik, she went into full diplomat mode, "It is very good to meet you, ambassador, and I welcome you aboard the Dreamer, flagship of Clan Mason," Tik said, first saluting in Yautja tradition before offering her a handshake in human tradition, which Celia looked confused by.

"It is an ooman gesture and a sign of friendship and trust," Tik explained, and Celia looked at her hand and then stuck it out in the same way Tik did but didn't take it but still managed to look surprised as Tik clasped it and shook it.

"I thank you for your warm welcome, Grand Matriarch Tik eleth Mason," Celia said.

Tik smiled warmly and nodded, "Please, call me Tik, or if you prefer more formal, Tik eleth," Tik said, and Celia nodded.

"Thank you, then I ask you to call me Celia, umm, may I ask why you just referred to your husband's species as ooman? I thought they were called human?" Celia asked, puzzled and Jack laughed.

"It's ok, it's just the way Yautja pronounce it, much the same way Tik calls me Ack because she has problems saying the letter J in the human alphabet," Jack said, and Tik smiled and nodded in agreement.

"It is as my beloved husband says, though my accent is not half as funny as listening to him speaking Yautja, his accent is hilarious," Tik said with a playful grin aimed at her husband and Jack laughed.

"Hey, in my defence I don't exactly have mandibles to help pronounce most of it and have to click my teeth," Jack said and Tik laughed.

Celia looked at them curiously and then smiled, "I can see it is as your husband said that your species are equals and I can see this is true of your genders as well, it is refreshing to see that this is the more accepted way of things in the greater universe, a part of me had feared that it could be more like the Scalathor or Draconis way of doing things where their males are oppressed to the point of being nothing but abused slaves, much like this poor individual behind me, it breaks my heart and infuriates me to know that their and my species were born of the same world and yet their attitudes never evolved beyond the old days when males were considered nothing more than property," she said.

"So your society is matriarchal then?" Tik asked, and Celia tilted her head curiously.

"Somewhat, but only because we outnumber males four to one, males on both my world and that of the Raptorians are rarer than us females, but we embraced this difference and protect our males, it is worse for the Raptorians as their species is born roughly eight females to every one male but they still do not oppress them, males on both of our worlds are afforded the very same rights as any female, they can do any job and even rule territory which in some territories they do just that and it is something we are very proud of and I am very glad and happy to see that this is the universal standard way of doing things," Celia said, looking around at all the curious people who had wandered over to look at the newcomers.

While Celia seemed to be taking all this curiosity in her stride the young Draconis was obviously frightened by it all and was clinging to Analise who was trying to comfort him gently, Jack could see his bright eyes darting around looking at all the strange faces peering in at him, he'd folded his wings and tail protectively around himself as he clung to Analise's arm, "Analise, take our friend there to the medical bay, get him checked out," Jack said, and she nodded and gently led him away, two Battle Angels falling step with her as they went along with Zed.

"If we may, Celia, I'd like to make sure that you have suffered no injury or ill effect from your captivity, I'd like to take you down to the medical bay and have our doctors check you over as well, we wouldn't be very gracious hosts if we did not ensure the well being of our guests, it's also standard procedure for our soldiers to be checked over by the doctors after a mission doubly so after one like this, encountering new species, we have to be sure that we're not carrying anything that would be harmful to you and visa versa," Jack said softly, and Celia nodded, he did a circular motion with his hand and the whole compliment of Hunters and the remaining Seekers and Battle Angels fell into step with him as he and Tik led the way.

The Dreamer's medical bay was state of the art and had been a very close collaboration between the hives of queens Zara and Citrus, both queens and indeed their kings had thrown their all into designing this place to combat any threat to the well being and safety of all aboard, it carried some of the very best the Battle Angels had to offer, the look on Celia's face as she entered the very clean and brightly lit medical centre full of beds and diagnostic tools, not to mention colorful Xenos running around everywhere tending to people, well, sometimes the tending was a little different as was evident when her eyes locked onto something down the far end and Jack tracked her vision and at first scowled but then smiled as he saw one of the female Xeno's with her back to the wall and was being kissed by a human male dressed in a Hunter's uniform.

"Mack! Lilla! Honored guests here, bit of discression please!" he called out, and the couple jolted like someone had just run a current through them breaking apart both saluting crisply and apoligising before scurrying away to find some duties to attend to.

Turning to Celia he found looking both amused and curious, "Sorry about that, my people are both passionate about their loves and they aren't afraid to display it and it can sometimes lead them to get carried away," he said apologetically.

"No apologies necessary, we are the guests here but are you referring to Humans? Or do you mean Clan Mason in general?" Celia said, and Jack laughed.

"Both I guess," Jack said, and suddenly Tik clamped her arm around his shoulders, giving him a squeeze, typical of Tik, she didn't care a single bit who knew she loved her husband and was not shy about it.

"Ooman love is a highly sought thing where we come from, most who have come seeking to join our Clan have done so because we offer them something that is found in very few places anywhere else, acceptance," she said, and Celia turned to look at her curiously.

"Acceptance?" she asked curiously, and Tik nodded.

"Among my people, the Yautja, to love another species is forbidden under pain of death for you and disgrace for your family or clan, worse, if that species is considered by the majority to be a weak prey species like oomans are, but my Ack here changed my life and not because he is a Dream Warrior but because he is a man, an ooman man, he did for me what no one among my own kind has ever done, he loved me unconditionally and he proved it over and over again, he fought for me, he fought to protect me, to save me and to claim me and no man has ever stood so tall and so proud before me before, I knew that in that instant everything I had been taught was not only wrong but was an outright lie designed to maintain the purity of my species, to forbid us from experiencing things we never dared to even dream possible and to just accept our lot, but I refused to accept the lies any longer, my heart did not belong to my own kind, it beat with a very different rythem, an ooman rythem, we knew that neither of our races would accept us as we are really, the Yautja are to narrow minded and the oomans just were not ready, so we broke away and formed our own clan," Tik said proudly.

Celia looked utterly stunned, "So you both defied your species to form this clan?" she asked.

"I did, but Ack's people are a different story, they've only really just started to take their first steps into the cosmos so they, apart from the few enlightened ones, don't know of our existence properly," Tik said as they guided Celia to a bio bed so the doctor could take a proper look at her, instantly a Xeno holding a pad and diagnostic scanning tools appeared and began to examine her.

"But there are so many Humans here?" Celia asked, and Jack nodded.

"We, back when we started, the clan realized that we had nowhere near enough humans to keep up with the demand, we were getting defecting recruits from the Yautja clans as word of what had happened aboard the Shadowclaw clanship involving our son and a trial by combat began to spread, not to mention my wife's captive diaries were swiftly becoming the must read literature of those seeking love outside of their own race, like a battle cry of those who knew they were different it began to ripple across Yautja space, calling them to us, so we took steps to counter the flood of Yautja coming to us with the hope of finding a human of their own to love, we created a challenge on my homeworld and to those who succeeded in completing it were given the chance to join us, we took ten thousand humans from my home world in one hit, this stabilize things, after that we've maintained a healthy population of all three races you see here, we have pure blood humans, pure blood Yautja, pure blood Xeno's and mixtures of all, humans dating Yautja, humans dating Xenos as you just saw as well as each other, we don't discriminate on love at all, all are free with us," Jack said proudly, and Celia looked impressed.

The doctor was scanning her with a multitude of tools and images of her anatomy were appearing on the monitors around them, suddenly Jack noticed she appeared to be looking over his shoulder and he glanced back to see that his team were going through their own medicals, Liam had been taken to the next bio bed over and had removed his upper armor because the scanners couldn't penetrate the reflective material, he was wearing a tight undershirt that had risen up, revealing his toned flat stomach before he pulled it back down before placing his armor down and stripping off his pants to reveal his shorts as the Battle Angel doctor fussed around him, scanning away.

Jack turned back to her and he saw her long tongue was flicking out of her mouth tasting the air and he could have sworn that she was aiming it at Liam, "We'd be more than happy to take you on a tour of our homeworld, Celia, if you wish then you can see what we're saying is true," Tik said suddenly, and Celia snapped her attention to her as if being snapped ot of a happy day dream.

"I thank you for your offer but I really must get back to my people, by now my kidnapping has obviously been reported and trouble will most likely be brewing, it could lead to big trouble between us and the Scalathor if I am not returned immediately," she said, sounding regretful.

"Understandable, if you can provide us with the coordinates we will take you there immediately," Jack said, and Celia nodded but then she suddenly looked lost.

"Ummm, I'd have to look at your star charts to be able to find my world, but after that business is concluded I would very much like to visit your world, it sounds like a most fascinating place and I'd very much like to see this utopia sounding place with my own eyes, in fact, I'm positive my people would very much like to meet yours on a much more official basis, they will most likely wish to send a contingent to your world to negotiate relations and I will request to be among them because I would very much like to learn all about your people and your culture," Celia said, and Jack nodded.

"We would like that too, we are always eager to meet new friends and potential allies and to learn all about them, knowledge and understanding makes us stronger, so once we get the star charts from the Scalathor freighter compiled with our own we'll bring you to the bridge and show us where we need to go, is that acceptable to you?" Jack said, and Celia smiled brightly, flicking her tongue slightly.

"That's fine, and thank you, also, may I compliment you on a very enlightened attitude, you're species is fascinating, I must say," she said, then her face went a little solumn and Jack noticed what had caught her attention, it was the young Draconis male, he was sat on a bio bed being examined by what appeared to be deeply concerned and anxious Xenos, there were four of them fussing around him and he was nervously looking at Analise who was stood next to him.

"Please don't return him to his people, I've never set eyes upon him before today but even I can tell that poor boy has suffered greatly at the hands of his own, he deserves to know what freedom and choice are, give him asylum with you and if you can't, let us take him and we will give him the best we can among ours," Celia said, Jack scowled for a moment.

"One moment, please, excuse me," he said, and then he broke from them and walked over to the Draconis who looked up at him both curiously and nervously, Jack reached out to him gently and the male shrank and looked at Analise for reassurance, "It's ok, sweetheart, he won't hurt you, this is the kindest man you're ever going to meet," she said softly, and the male obviously didn't have a clue what she was saying but he trusted her voice, he leaned forward and Jack placed his hands on the male's cool scales and with a flicker his eyes flashed and changed color as Jack connected their minds.

Normally Jack would ask someone's permission to see their memories unless they were an enemy but he wanted to see for himself what this male had been through and what his people were like, he also exchanged languages with him while he dove through his mind and after only moments Jack released him and placed his hands on his shoulders, his face was set into a look of pure rage and horror, he gently stroked the male who's name was Kelmar on the head and then he turned and face the room, noticing all eyes were on him, "This is Kelmar Littlewing, I have seen his mind and the horrors and indignities it contains and for that I offer him my humblest apologies, it is not my way to take that which is not freely given but I needed to understand and now I do and from this moment on he is under the protection of Clan Mason, never again will anyone lift a hand against him and have it go unanswered, if anyone ever harms him again it will be answered by Clan Mason and we will not show mercy, as Grand Patriarch I before you all hereby offer him asylum, from this moment he is ours and we are his, he will live free," Jack said in a voice so powerful it shook the hearts of everyone in the room and cheers went up.

Jack turned back to the surprised looking Draconis male who had obviously now understood every word he'd said, he offered him his hand and Kelmar looked at it, "Take my hand and be free, Kelmar, let us show you the meaning of freedom," Jack said.

"W-W-What is freedom?" he asked in a soft voice using English, this softest of sentences made Analise's face crease as his true non understanding hit her like a hammer blow.

Jack smiled softly, "Would you like to see it?" he asked, and Kelmar nodded and Jack turned to Analise, "Would you like to show him?" he said, and without hesitation Analise stepped forward and gently took Kelmar's head in her hands and once again his eyes changed but this time to match her's and by the look on his face and by the face that tears began to stream down his face making little rivers in the gaps between his scales he was seeing it.

When she let go he blinked and looked between them, "I-I-I can have this beautiful thing? It can be mine?" he asked in utter shock.

"All you have to do is say yes and it will be yours, young one," Jack said softly, and Kelmar nodded.

"Yes! Please! I want to be free!" he said, and Jack nodded, he took a deep breath and he planted a firm hand on his shoulder, "Stength through unity..." he began, Analise instantly planted her hand on Kelmar's other shoulder.

"...Unity through togetherness..." she continued, instantly Tik eleth appeared and planted her hand on top of her husband's on Kelmar's shoulder.

"...Togetherness through pure love..." she said.

Ryan was next, planting his hand atop his parents', "... a love so pure it burns through all who hear its call..." he said.

Liam placed his hand atop Analise's, "...and hear its call, we do..." he said.

Shena placed her hand atop Ryan's, "...and answer that call honestly, we do..." she said.

Next up was a Xeno called Liv, she planted her hand atop Liam's, "...humbled by its power, we are..." she said.

One after another, the room joined, each placing a hand on him, "...humble and proud we stand...shoulder to shoulder...these are my brothers and my sisters...they stand for me as I stand for them... I am never alone for wherever I am I carry my brothers and sisters with me... as they carry me...my strength is theirs as theirs is mine...together we are strong and we are free...for we are Clan Mason and we stand proudly together now and always...and together we welcome you, brother," the last part was said in complete unison by everyone gathered around him and with that Kelmar was swallowed in a huge group hug with him at the centre.

The young Draconis had never ever imagined anything like this and he broke, he began to sob his young heart out as he was surrounded by a wall of love, "Welcome, Kelmar Littlewing, as Grand Matriarch I name you Kelmar Littlewing Mason, wear this name with pride, little one, it is a symbol of your freedom," she said.

"Thank you! Thank you all so much! No one has never been so kind to me before," Kelmar said.

"Analise, sort our newest member out with some quarters and make sure he's taken care of," Ryan said, and the young Tamer saluted and nodded.

The group separated and left Analise to comfort the young Draconis while the Battle Angels began their work to see what they could do for his injuries, Jack and Tik headed back over to Celia who looked utterly amazed, "That's how you induct someone into Clan Mason?" she asked, looking curious, and Jack smile and nodded.

"It's meant to show our unity, every member of the Clan knows it by heart and if you're present at an induction you join in, it's as simple as that, every member of the Clan is valued equally, our strength is the Clan and the Clan's strength is us, every one of us," Jack said proudly.

Celia looked impressed, the Xeno doctor who had been examining her turned to Jack and Tik, "She is vulnerable to some of our bacterium and viruses but it's nothing that a broad spectrum immune shot can't deal with and it's perfectly safe for her to take, I'm not detecting anything that she has that our immune systems can't handle but I would recommend an exchange of medical knowledge before heading down to the planet's surface Grand Patriarch and Matriarch," she said.

"Permission to give you a shot to keep you safe and don't worry, it's totally painless, we don't use needles due to Xeno's having acidic blood," Jack said, and Celia nodded her consent, the young Xeno doctor gave her a hydrospray shot and that was it done.

"Other than some malnutrition and some scale sores from the manacles which we can treat easily, Miss Diamondscale is in good health, a good meal, comfortable bed and a good night's sleep and she should be all good," the doctor said, and Jack nodded.

"Ok, we're going to debrief while we run over the intel we gathered from that ship, if you can provide us with the coordinates we'll get you home, in the mean time, I'll appoint one of ours to guide you around, is that acceptable?" Jack asked, and without a single second's hesitation Celia nodded.

"May I make just one request? she asked, and Jack nodded.

"Of course, go ahead," he said, and Celia pointed at Liam who was now getting dressed in his armor again after completing his medical.

"I'd like to request him to show me around if you can spare him," she said, and Jack grinned.

"Liam, you're on duty looking after our guest here, show her around make sure she's taken care of," he said, and Liam looked at him before turning his attention to Celia who was looking at him and flicking her tongue repeatedly, making a very soft hissing noise every time she did.

"Umm, sure, of course, boss, ok, Lady ambassador, if you will follow me I'll take you on a tour of the ship, I just need to get out of this armor and get into my regular uniform if that's ok with you?" he said, and she nodded.

"Of course, Seeker Liam, and please, call me Celia," she said, slithering over to join him.

"Umm, sure, thank you, and please, call me Liam, I'm not much one for titles," he replied, and he guided the large Serpent woman towards the exit.

"Are you hungry, the mess hall here is open twenty four hours a day because there's always someone on duty and we cater to three different species before hybrids so I'm sure we'll have something to your taste," Liam said.

"I'm glad you brought it up, although my species only eat every four days or so I'm ravenous so please, lead on," she said, and just like that they were gone, though with the length of her tail it did take a rather long time for her to fully go anywhere.

Jack turned to Tik and she smiled at him, "It looks our new friend made a friend," he said, and her smile widened.

"I think she likes him," Tik said, and Jack looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Seriously? They just met and we don't even know if both species are even compatible yet," Jack said.

"Oh, they are, our scan revealed that her species are essentially compatible with any species aboard, I'm sure it would be a little odd but essentially all the right equipment is all there and her reproductive organs are essentially compatible, genetics are another question but we've sampled it and it will be transmitted to the hive for analysis," the Xeno doctor who had examined her said upon hearing what they'd said.

Tik's smile got even wider and Jack just laughed and sighed, "Perhaps I should have told Liam to be on ambassador level best behavior," he said, and Tik laughed.

"Think you could tell her that too?" she said, laughing, and Jack shook his head, pinching his brow and chuckling.

"She's probably just curious about us is all, think about it, not only is she meeting three new species at once but Dream Warriors as well, so by talking to Liam she gets to learn about a species and a Dream Warrior as well," he said, and Tik suddenly looked very sly.

"Care to make a bet?" she asked, and Jack shook his head.

"Not a fucking chance, my heart, I beat you fair and square and you are not wriggling out of paying up by doing double or nothing on something I have no control over," he said, and Tik roared with laughter.

"Can't blame a girl for trying," she said with a shrug before clapping him on the shoulder.

"Come on, let's go get to the bottom of this mystery, it's Scooby Doo time," Jack said, and now Tik just looked confused.

"What in the name of pauk is a Scooby Doo?" she asked, and now Jack roared with laughter.

"Never mind, my love, never mind," Jack said, and the pair headed for the bridge to get to work, they did still have a mystery to solve and a serpent damsel in distress to return home after all, they really had their work cut out for them, but the first thing they had to do was get the hell out of here before anyone else decided to show up in response to the now non broadcasting distress call, so they'd jump out of here and take cover in a nearby binary star system which should hide them from any long range scans while they worked their way through the data they'd retrieved, they had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it in.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Cultural Misunderstanding.

Liam felt a little odd walking alongside the huge, incredibly curious Serpentinus woman called Celia, she was utterly amazed by everything she saw, her people were space faring but in her words, "Everything your people has just seems so much more refined than ours,"

They were nearly at the mess hall when she stopped and something caught her eye, he'd noticed that when she seemed to be really fascinated by something her tongue would shoot out and begin tasting the air, the more curious she was the more times she tasted, so far she'd tasted a bulkhead, a control panel, a plant, a passing Xeno, and now as he turned his head he saw what had her attention.

Down the corridor a little ways away was a huge Yautja huntress dressed in her golden armor, Liam recognized her as M'Xen, they'd trained together many times and she was an exceptional warrior and a prime example of Yautja feminity, an utterly solid slab of camo colored muscles with a surprisingly pretty face, now Liam had grown up on the Clan homeworld and was surprised when Jack had told him that there were those back on his homeworld that would find Yautja and Xenos ugly, in fact, Jack had told him that the vast majority of their species were that way and he'd found that this saddened him greatly, he had wondered aloud if his acceptance of them had been created by growing up on the Clan homeworld and Jack had proudly informed him that no, it was because he was enlightened and saw the truth of beauty and knew that it took a great many forms, great and small and just like the Clan had taught him all were equal in his eyes.

M'Xen was standing slightly side on to them, leaning with one hand on the wall of the bulkhead, between her and the wall was a human male dressed in the uniform of one of Sela eleth Mason's Saviors, by his shoulder patch he was one of the Dreamer's engineers as the Saviors, unlike either the Hunters or the Seekers, had a vast amount of divisions.

Now obviously the Hunters and the Seekers had their own divisions like Soul Knights or Tamers for the Seekers, they even had those chosen to walk the line between the two divisions and these were simply called Balance Seekers but they were very few as the vast majority tended to lean one way or the other, either being drawn to the pull of nature and the Tamers, or the spiritual realm and the Soul Knights, now just because they didn't specialize didn't mean the Balance Seekers were not powerful in their own right, quite the opposite in fact, in fact, there was some things they could do far better than either of the two, such as spot unawoken Dream Warriors.

Now the Hunters had a few divisions of their own, they had the Pathfinders who were trained like scouts and usually would have a Savior sniper among their number and operated in small teams of four, they were trained to move ahead of the main formation of the force and do exactly as their name suggested while looking out for signs of the enemy along with booby traps and other problems.

There were the Templars, these guys were specialists in close combat and hand to hand combat, preferring to use bladed weapons and get up close and personal with their enemy, they were truly a force to be reckoned with, nothing like being charged by warriors holding swords as big as they were or giant spears that could nail a Xeno queen to a wall to really put the shits up you, they were paragons of fairness and honor, like the modern equivalent of the knights they took their name from.

Then there were the Guards, these guys protected and held the lines together using advanced shield tech to protect the advancing group, acting as a mobile front line.

Then there were the Beserkers, this is what Tik eleth was, warriors that drove themselves into a whirlwind of righteous anger and fury, the only way to stop them was to kill them and that was a hell of a lot easier said than done, anyone who had ever witnessed Tik on the battlefield first hand knew that, she was a force of nature given a face, she was grace, beauty, power, fire and strength and was driven by a burning need to protect her friends and loved ones, to avenge their fallen and right any and all wrongs inflicted on them and those around them, they were also scary as fuck.

M'Xen was a Templar and having trained with her many times Liam knew she was a genuinely scary individual on the battlefield, she had custom made wrist blades and a twin bladed sword called PeaceKeeper that was forged for her by Jack Mason himself, in fact, all Hunters, especially Templars, dreamed of earning a weapon made personally for them by their Clan Patriarch and named, decorated and inscribed by their Clan Matriarch, it was one of the highest honors these warriors could receive and was given to those who had displayed exceptional honor and bravery in defence of the Clan or its people.

She had earned hers when she'd singlehandedly protected a group of children that got lost in the woods, they'd gone out playing and had gotten lost, sparking a Clan wide search, they'd been out with their teacher on a field trip to learn how the Clan's ecologists managed the world's herds and preserved the delicate balance of nature to make sure that the Clan lived in perfect balance with their surroundings, Angel and her family had been showing them the vast diversity of the fauna living all around them and the kids had wandered off and had gotten lost.

The alarm had been raised and the entire Guardian Core had scrambled, every Seeker, Hunter and Savior available had headed into the woods to look along with a great many civilians, it had been M'Xen who had found the four girls and two boys mixed pure and hybrid Human and Yautja pinned down in a small cave under attack by Shadow Bears.

Now these things were huge, standing fifteen feet tall on their back legs and were built like furry tanks, the kids reported later that M'Xen had not hesitated for a single second, she charged them with a mighty roar and killed the first bear before it even had chance to turn around, nailed it to the wall with her spear before taking on the other two at the same time, when the rest of the Clan came running having heard the war roar they found M'Xen sat cradling the six sobbing children with three very dead and dismembered bears, she was personally honored by the Grand Patriarch and Matriarch who gave her the weapons before the whole Clan and named her Hero of Clan Mason and protector of the innocent, even h'chak's lot got involved and they put up a statue outside the school of her standing as a living shield with the kids behind her as she stood tall and proud against a mighty bear.

But in truth M'Xen herself, mighty as she was, was actually a rather humble woman and rather softly spoken for a Yautja, you would never imagine it to look at her, Liam also knew the man who was leaning against the wall between her and it, he was called Toby, he was a kind and gentle man, very softly spoken and so very kind to everybody around him, the type of man who would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it more than him, it appeared that M'Xen had taken quite the liking to him and was making sure he knew it which made Liam actually smile, the pair of them both deserved to have someone to make them happy, as a Soul Knight it took very little effort for him to reach out and to see those feelings swirling around them through their auras, watching colorful clouds around them swirl and pulse like they were dancing together, desperately trying to swirl together to make one whole.

As they watched M'Xen very tenderly reached up and stroked Toby's cheek with the back of her hand and seemed to utterly revel in the feel of his warm soft skin, which would have been rather hot to the touch by the blush on his cheeks, then surprising the huge Yautja, Toby made his choice to be brave and he reached up with both hands, gripped her face and standing on his toes while using the wall to support him he brought her head down and kissed the outside of her mandibles before they opened and the pair locked in a very passionate and tender kiss.

Celia seemed utterly enthralled by what she was seeing and her long thin forked tongue was flicking, constantly tasting the air, her head was swaying left and right as she watched the pair kissing deeply, she watched as M'Xen's mandibles tenderly stroked Toby's cheeks before gripping his head so she could kiss him deeply, her hand slipping behind his head and slipping into his hair, finally they broke and her mandibles released him and they both saw her long tongue slip out of his mouth and back into hers.

Then without ever even noticing that they had an audience M'Xen held out a hand to Toby who took it and she very gently lead him away, obviously in the direction of either her quarters or his for a little quiet time, well, probably not so quiet if Yautja love was anything to go by, in fact, the bulkhead walls between quarters were all sound proofed for this very reason, well, that and the Xenos who managed to get their hands on some human love, there was no quicker way to a headache than a section full of female Battle Angels who'd all decided to have date night all at the same time, in fact, Liam often wondered how their mates managed to tune it out, maybe love blinded one to the problems and let you see only the good, but then maybe they loved the sound, who knew.

Liam himself had never experienced love first hand, he had seen it a great many times on others just like Toby and M'Xen there, he'd often wondered what it would be like to be in love, he'd heard it described as having all your senses swept away by a force so powerful your mind truly couldn't comprehend it, a force so powerful and beautiful that it defied all logic and reason.

But when it came down to love Liam always kinda felt like an outsider, like someone on the outside of a house looking in through the window at the warmth and joy inside, but never being the one to walk through those doors and into the warm place, but it wasn't the fault of the ladies of Clan Mason, he'd just never found what he was looking for, in fact, there had been more than one petition to hunt him, all of which had failed, it was no easy task to catch a Seeker, let alone the second in command of the Soul Knights and by the rules of the hunt that meant simply that no one's heart or love was strong enough to guide them to him because if it had been Seeker or not they'd have found him.

Celia seemed now to notice that he was watching her and turned her large head back to look at him curiously with those large golden eyes, "It seems the males of your species are popular among the females of the other two of your clan," she said with that accent of hers drawing out the S sounds she made

Liam chuckled to himself and nodded, "It was kinda part of what forged our clan to begin with," Liam said as Celia fell back into step with him as they continued their journey to the mess hall, well, step was a pretty loose term when describing a twenty foot long snake girl with no feet.

"Oh?" Celia said, curious again, she seemed to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and powerful sense of curiosity that was rather charming, out of the corner of his eye he saw her tongue flickering in and out of her mouth again, this time in his direction.

"It started with our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch, they were both kidnapped many years ago before they even knew the other existed and dumped on a planet to be hunted down and killed for sport by Yautja Bad Bloods, or criminals if you're not familiar with the term," he began and as they headed into the mess hall he continued to tell the story, only pausing to ask what she would like to eat.

"Is your species carnivorous or omnivore? I can't imagine you're herbivores," Liam said, and she glanced at him curiously, tearing her vision away from the many delicious looking dishes being served that day by the primarily human serving staff, though there was one Xeno right in the middle of it all who looked kinda funny in his custom made chef's hat barking orders at the team of chefs, food was serious business around here and an army marched on its stomach and despite their mighty ships Clan Mason and the Guardian Core were no different.

"What makes you say that?" Celia asked curiously, her tongue working over time to taking in all the obvious alien but hopefully delicious scents and smells.

"Well, it's safe to say your species evolved from serpent species and I've never met a non carnivorous serpent myself, though maybe you're the first then?" Liam said with a bit of sly smile on his face, Celia flicked her tongue at him before turning to eye the dishes again.

"You are indeed correct, Liam, we are predominantly carnivores though we have evolved to be more omnivorous than our ancestors, taking many nutrients from the bounty of nature that the Great tree provides, but yes, we still require generous amounts of meat to survive," she said.

"Meat it is then, any preference?" Liam asked, and Celia looked curiously at the dishes through the glass serving protector.

"They all look so exotic and smell so delicious, ummm, well, since I am the guest here you may choose for me, I will trust your judgement, Seeker Liam," Celia said, drawing herself up and looking both regal and diplomatic at the same time.

Liam laughed softly, "Very well, ambassador, how much is your typical meal in size?" he said, she looked thoughtful for moment.

"About twenty pounds in weight," she said, and he nodded, remembering they they only ate every couple of days so it made sense.

"Hey, chef," Liam called out, and the male Xeno turned to look and upon seeing who was addressing him saluted.

"It is good to see you, Seeker, what can I get for you?" he asked.

"Do you have any of the barbeque pulled pork left, I need about twenty pounds?" Liam asked, and the chef nodded.

"I can do that, sure, is it for our guest?" the chef asked, and Liam nodded.

The chef looked thoughtful for a moment then snapped his long fingers, "Go take a seat, it's table service today for our honored guest and her Seeker chaperone, leave this to me," the chef said, and he was off, hissing and screeching orders at his team who flew around like it was Tik eleth herself yelling at them.

"Well, m'lady if you'd like to join me?" Liam said, gesturing her to a booth table and Celia smiled and followed him, slithering herself into the gap and coiling her tail under the table and perching what actually looked to be a bum of some sort onto the seat and he slid in next to her.

Only moments later the Xeno chef appeared, carrying their meals, it was easy to forget sometimes how incredibly strong Xenos were with their spindly long limbs, but he carried a huge plate and and his much smaller one next to it and placed them on the table, not only had he prepared pulled pork for her but a full mixed grill with sweet potato mash for her and chips for Liam, "Enjoy your meal, ambassador, and you too, Seeker," the chef said, and he was gone before they could say thank you.

Celia watched curiously as he used his utensils to cut the meats into small mouth sized bites, she tried to emulate him but unlike humans didn't have the same sort of teeth they did, "Don't stand on etiquette, Celia, please, eat how your species normally do," so with that she speared a large chunk of chicken and much to his amazement wolfed the whole thing in one go, swallowing it with ease.

'This is amazing! This food is delicious!" she exclaimed, and Liam smiled.

"I'm glad you approve, the chefs will be pleased you approve," Liam said as he watched with some amusement as she tried tackling the pulled pork.

"Ohh, this is incredible! It's so succulent and flavorful! Oh, we have nothing like this back home, and I know chefs in the royal court who would trade their right arm for these recipes, your chefs are true artisans and are to be commended," she said, in the corner of his eye he saw the male Xeno looking over at them hopefully.

"The lady ambassador passes on her whole hearted compliments to you and your team, Lewis, true artists as always, but of course we all expect no less of the best chefs in the Core," Liam called, and the Xeno clapped happily before clapping his whole team on the back.

Celia looked at him with wide eyed surprise, "Do my compliments mean that much to your people?" she asked, surprised, and Liam smiled.

"Of course, Celia, you are both an ambassador of your race and the first of your kind that we have encountered, we take our first impressions and honor very seriously around here, more foundations inherited from our Grand Matriarch and Patriarch," Liam said.

"Oh, yes, you were telling me the riveting story of how they met and the clan was formed, please, continue, unless of course your kind find it rude to eat and converse of course," she said, and he smiled.

"Not at all, we embrace it whole heartedly, so, where was I? Oh yes..." he said, and continued with the story of the clan while they ate their dinner.

Celia ate in rapt silence, seemingly hanging on his every word, in fact, he timed his story perfectly because as he finished his story bringing her up to current day of the modern day Clan Mason with their fledgling but growing Guardian core and space fleet and its swiftly expanding civilisation she seemed utterly amazed by it all.

"That's an incredible story, Liam, your people are striving so hard to build something truly wonderful out of something so utterly terrible, it's inspiring," she said.

He laughed softly and she cocked her head and he swore he heard her scale rustle, "Did I say something funny?" she asked, her pride obviously kicking in again.

"Oh, no, it's not you, Celia, you just reminded me of something our Grand Matriarch always says, to grow the biggest trees and the strongest crops you need a whole lot of shit," he said, and Celia nearly spit out her drink as she choked down a laugh.

"Your Grand Matriarch certainly has a way with wordsr" she saidr coughing a bitr and he grinned.

"You can say that again, she also always says that given what her and our Grand Patriarch have gone through our trees and crops will be the size of mountains," he said, making her laugh again.

"Your world sounds like an incredible place," she said, and Liam smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Celia, and, yes, it is," he said.

"Tell me something, I was wondering about the Yautja girl we saw out in the hallway kissing with the human male," she said.

"M'Xen and Toby? What about them?" Liam asked as the chef's staff took their empty plates and glasses away and the the pair waved their thank you to the chefs who all waved back as they exited the booth, Celia unwinding herself from under the table and falling in beside Liam.

"Well, I'm still a little hazy on your interpersonal relationships, I was so phased when I first came aboard, probably from the lack of proper sleep and food that when your Grand Patriarch mentioned something about it to me it left me feeling a little confused," she said.

"Well, ask away and I'll do my best to try and explain what I can," Liam said.

She smiled and flicked her tongue at him, making it dance in the air, "Well, I was kind of wondering, will she keep him to herself for the first night before she shares him with her sisters? Or will she share his company with them right away?" she asked, and then followed up her question with, "What?" as she saw him staring at her with her mouth hanging open in shock and surprise.

Liam recovered himself quickly as his brain caught up with her statement and processed it, "Oh, of course, you said female births outweigh males by four to one on your world, don't they?" he said, and she nodded.

"Yes, why, and what's with that look?" she asked.

"Sorry, I was just trying to imagine how many pieces a woman would be torn into if she tried to take a Yautja female's hard won male from her would be, they take their mating rights very, very seriously, especially if it is a member of another species they have won over, for some reason they seem to go double down for humans, I guess it goes hand in hand with the taboo their people consider it, double the price double the prize, and to answer your question fairly, our birth rates of either gender are pretty much equal and all our relationships are exclusive, two partners whether they be one male one female, two males or two females of any species mix and match, they are exclusive and all of us are incredibly protective of our beloved ones, it's hard wired into us from the time we're old enough to understand, you stand for the one you love as they will stand for you, together through unity and love, a perfect pair of souls," Liam explained.

Celia who was now obviously more mentally awake than she had been when she'd first come aboard was utterly stunned by this statement, "One male each? To keep for life? How positively extravagant," she said, looking very thoughtful indeed.

She suddenly noticed the way Liam was looking at her with an eyebrow raised, "We live in family groups of four, not all of them are related, in fact, more often than not we join a pack of like minded individuals and draw up a contract to stay together, it is not a romantic thing, it is for convienence, we live together, work together and exist together, we call them our sisters even if there is no blood relation because to us they are our sisters, sometimes they are of the same cast as us and sometimes not, back in olden times they used to be made up of four family members within the ruling elite or royal households but this led to sickness and inbreeding so it was pretty much abandoned and now our packs are as diverse as possible, eventually one of the group will find a male and bring him home to meet the rest of the pack and if it is agreed that all four like him then he is offered a place in our pack and he then lives as part of the pack, taking care of all of its members, loving them all equally," she said.

Liam's eyebrow remained raised, "And what of the male, does he not get a say in all this?" he asked, and she looked at him with wide eyes that brimmed with hurt, she was obviously offended and then lowered his eyes.

"Of course! We are not at all like our despicable sisters in the Draconis or Scalathor, we love our males dearly, we would live, love and die for them happily as without them our pack will never grow, everything that happens to him within the pack is done with his complete consent, if he doesn't like one member of our pack he does not have to join it, it is not forced upon him, nor is anything sexual done to him without his permission, his body equals his rules just as it does for us, the females of my race may be the sexually dominant and aggressive ones but that does not mean they are rapists or male forcers and enslavers like the Scalathor or Draconis, we pursue our males in a healthy consensual way, they must first agree or no one will lay a single hand on them and our laws are utterly absolute on this, the punishments for male forcing are very severe and at the very least will land an entire pack in prison even for the actions of a single member," she said sternly.

Liam blew out a held breath and nodded, "Sorry, I meant no offence, ambassador, it was just the way you began explaining it sounded kinda forced at first but I believe I now understand and my apologies if my tone sounded accusing," he said, and Celia seemed to relax and unwind herself a bit and nodded.

"Understandable, interspecies interactions are quite tricky and tenuous, what is normal for one may be outlandish, offensive or downright astonishing for others and it can be a minefield for misunderstanding like the one I made when I saw the interspecies couple back there, though I am glad I chose to ask you and not her or I get the feeling I may be down in the medical bay again, attempting to regurgitate my tail," she said, which made him laugh and instantly lifted the mood.

Liam laughed out loud and nodded, "Yes, you may well have been doing just that, Yautja girls are somewhat, ahem, passionate when it comes to matters of the heart, even the non alien loving ones are like that but the ones who love outside of their species are even more so, probably because they have to work harder to secure themselves a love and what with the taboo of breaking Yautja law to do it despite living on our world and that not being a problem for a lot of the older ones who came from the other clans to join us it's still kinda hardwired into them, so, yeah, their reaction would be rather negative," Liam said.

"Is it obligatory that members of your clan choose a mate outside of their own species?" Celia asked, and Liam shook his head.

"No, far from it, freedom of choice is what we promote, which is an irony when you think about it," Liam said, and Celia cocked her head and flicked her tongue at him in an almost curious tasting of the air.

"Why ironic?" she asked.

"Because I never met a person who chose to fall in love with anyone," Liam said with a smile, and Celia looked thoughtful and then nodded.

"True words, true love cannot be made to happen, it simply does, once upon a time arranged marriages were common on my world, they weren't forced exactly but it was common among both noble and powerful bloodlines, mothers would arrange marriages of their sons into powerful or wealthy packs to both ensure their own power and status but also to ensure a good life for their sons, it was always assumed that the son would simply grow to love the members of his new pack if they took good care of him and in some cases this was true, it did, but from the many, many stories I have read from our history it just as often or more likely more often lead to a great deal of sadness for the young males, they did not want to disappoint their families so they did as their mothers bade them, can you imagine how those young men or even boys back in the day must have felt? Despite it often being done out of love and hope that the women would take good care of him to him it must have felt like he was being sold like cattle, that his life was worth no more than the prestige his family would reap from it, truly horrible I must say, the practice is strictly banned now but every so often we hear whispers of it still happening in very remote corners of my world and it makes me so very sad," Celia said.

Liam nodded, "The social politics of my world are rather complex also, especially due to the different species involved, from what I understand there were arguments in the early days, which is understandable, I guess, we have a big influx of mainly Yautja females coming to us to escape the trappings and prejudice of their own clans and to try and find a taste of the forbidden love for themselves, we had males too but not as many, they had read the words of our Grand Matriarch describing the freedom and joy her human love had brought her and they wanted this for themselves, we didn't have nowhere near enough male humans to go around so fights and squabbles became common, so our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch sat down and devised what we call the Love Hunt, also known as the Right to Hunt," Liam said, and Celia looked amazed.

"Right to Hunt? That sounds force and rather violent, it makes it sound like they are prey," she said curiously, and Liam laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, when you put it like that it does kinda sound like that but I assure you it is nothing violent, it simply occurs if it is known that a male or a female has many particular suitors or parties wanting of their attention or love, it uses the rules of the hunt set out by the goddess of the hunt herself, Paya, in fact, it was she who spoke to our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch and with her help they outlined it and the rules of it, iron clad and absolute, but built on one simple principle, choice, free and pure choice, if it is known that many are interested in one they go to the arbiter and lodge their petition to hunt, once all signatures are collected the person is simply offered a choice, to allow themselves to be hunted or not, they can even go in early and register a non consent if they are utterly opposed to it and that is an end to it, simple and pure, once that form hits the desk not a single hand may be placed upon that person lest the full weight of the clan come down upon the perpetrator, no arguments and no problems, but if they have no problems then the hunt is on, it's basically like a game of cat and mouse or hide and seek, the hunted runs and the hunters chase, each and every hunt is blessed by our lady of the hunt, Paya herself, it is said that only the one whose feelings are strongest and their love purest will be able to catch the hunted, if no one is worthy then the prey escapes and the hunt is done, this leaves the hunted free to choose if they wish but no more hunts can be called for them, not a single Love Hunt has failed to reveal the truth, not one, the hunted was only ever caught by the one they were meant to be with, their true soul mate being the one to catch them," Liam said proudly.

Celia looked both thoughtful and utterly amazed, "It sounds so incredible but so oddly fair, everyone has equal chance but if it is as you say then only the one whose love is pure has a chance at all," she said, and Lian snapped his fingers while pointing at her and nodding.

"Exactly! Exactly, perfect fair chance for both parties, love and heart both proved through the power of will and the purity of your heart guiding you to the one who's soul was meant to share yours," Liam said.

Celia looked thoughtful, "You make it sound so romantic," she said, and Liam smiled.

"I have seen my fair share of them, Seekers are the ones who stand in judgement of the hunts because of our connection to Paya and the spiritual realm, though usually it's our Grand Patriarch as head of the Seekers and leader of the Soul Knights, not to mention Paya's chosen one who does it, but often we are called upon to do it, we may not intervene, simply observe and to conclude it as well as watch for any instances of unfair play, though in all my years I have never once heard of such a thing happening, the hunts are taken very seriously and anyone who tried to interfere with one would be severly punished by the clan, for us, taking or robbing someone of their love or their chance of it is a very serious thing as it is one of the building blocks of Clan Mason and to spit on it is to spit on the clan as a whole," he said.

Liam could see Celia's utter fascination but before she could ask him her next question they reached her quarters, "Ahh, here we are, this is our guest quarters, if you'll place your hand on that panel to the right I'll key the door to you so only you can open it," he said.

"I thought we were going to see the ship?" she asked, curiously doing so and Liam used his wrist comp to key the door to her.

"Oh, we can, I just thought that after all you have been through you may like the chance to freshen up first, Ambassador, plus, maybe a change of clothes as, forgive me for saying so, but I believe those ones have seen better days and do not befit someone of your station," Liam said, a note formality creeping into his voice.

Celia looked down at her rumpled, torn and dirty clothing and she suddenly looked embarrassed and nodded, "Thank you, Liam, yes, it would be most appreciated, umm, if I may trouble you to not only explain how everything works but to also wait for me within the room?" she asked, and Liam felt kinda surprised but nodded and she smiled, flicking her tongue at him.

Celia touch the panel and the door opened, allowing them entrance, Celia looked around the nicely decorated room, it wasn't huge but it was comfortable, Liam opened the bathroom door, "Your ensuite bathroom is through here, the shower is very easy to operate and should accommodate you, this one is rated for Yautja so it shouldn't be too much of a squeeze for you, the only bigger ones we have are rated for Xeno Queens," Liam explained.

Celia slithered into the shower cubicle and it appeared that if she coiled herself up she'd fit just fine, "Umm, would you show me how to operate it? I am unfamiliar with these controls, our showers don't look anything like this, though to be fair most of ours have a sand option as well," she said, and Liam raised an eyebrow in question.

"Oh, it's a very, very fine sand, it's great for getting rid of problems between your scales or clinging scales during a shed, also leaves your scales lovely and smooth," she said, her voice almost sounding rather sultry as she said the word smooth.

She slithered out again and allowed Liam to step in, "Well, these controls run the overhead, simply use this to set the tempature to your liking, though be wary of the Yautja button unless your species can handle very high temperatures, their skin is far denser than human skin and they like it hot, very hot, and it would scald humans so those controls are separate and clearly marked to prevent accidents," he said, pointing to a button with an obvious picture of a Yautja head in a hunting mask on the silver control panel, he never heard her slither into the cubicle behind him but he felt the air displace near his left ear and something tickled his ear for a brief moment and he turned to find her in the shower leaning right down to head height, in fact, her face was so close to his he could make out the individual miniature mosaic that made up the scales on her face.

Her tongue flicked out again and was so close to his cheek he could feel the air being displaced as it flicked and danced right next to his head as she looked at the controls, her huge golden eyes turned to him and he saw the vertical slit pupils dilate somewhat, making his heart flutter in his chest which was an utterly new thing for him, her body slithered into the cubicle and slowly from her tail down it wound around him a bit without touching him so she could fit inside the cubicle as well, "Umm, err, these controls here operate the side jets and under jets so you can be washed from all sides at once, it, err, saves time and effort for our, umm, lager species," he said, an odd lump catching in his throat.

"Do you find me large?" she asked in a soft, low voice, once again turning her attention to him, instinct told him to tread carefully as that sounded like a loaded question, now if you were to call a human woman large she'd bite your head off, but call a Yautja woman large and she will beam at you all day long, Xenos it kinda depended on their cast and evolution.

"Well, um, yeah, compared to my kind you are very large, yes," he said, using his best diplomatic voice at the oddly beautiful serpent female who was almost right in his face now, she was obviously evaluating his answer but her face broke into a wide warm smile.

"I am glad you think so, a female of my kind is considered to be more healthy the larger and longer she is, thick coils and a healthy, long tail are the hallmarks of a healthy and virile Serpentinus woman," she said happily.

Her coils tightened slightly but still didn't touch him, just simply watched him closely for a moment that seemed to last for a very long time, "Ummm, if you'll excuse me ambassador, I'll go and order you some new clothes to be brought up while you enjoy your shower, the towels to dry yourself are on the rail there," he said, and she nodded.

"Of course, thank you, Liam," she said, slowly unwinding to allow him to squeeze past her, though this did kinda force him to have to touch her scales to do so and to his surprise they were smooth as glass and cool to the touch, obviously a cold blooded species or at least cooler than his mammalian blood, "Umm, will you wait for me in my room? I would very much like to both continue my tour and our conversation, I find you a most fascinating individual and good company and I am learning so much," she said hopefully, and he nodded.

"Of course, ambassador," he said, and she smiled at him before he closed the door and contacted the stores to have a uniform made up for her, thanks to their onboard facilities they could manufacture clothing to fit any species as long as they had the measurements which they did from her medical scans, it had actually been an idea that had come out of Zara and Cortez's hive in order for relief efforts if needed, to help refugees or anybody they rescued and here it was, already proving its worth but making a uniform for a totally unknown species.

Liam sat on the bed as he waited for Celia to take her shower and he could hear the water running as well as her splashing about in there, suddenly thoughts began to swim through his mind, in his mind's eye he imagined what Celia looked like in the shower, her huge coils glistening with water and shining like wet glass, his mind's eye envisioned her using the puff ball like scouring scrunchie to rub herself all over with thick soapy lather, his mind traced the passage of those thick globs of soap lather as they glided down over her smooth scales, sliding down the valley of her ample bosom, winding its merry way down over her flat smooth stomach, sliding down, down, down towards her...the doorbell snapped his mind like an elastic band and he literally jumped off the bed and to his feet, his heart bouncing in his chest like a super ball hit by golf club inside a squash court.

He opened the door and found a happy, smiling Xeno standing there holding the ambassador's new uniform, "One fresh and new uniform and underwear for the ambassador, fresh off the press," he said.

"Thank you, Vem," Liam said, taking the uniform and the Xeno saluted and then looked at him curiously.

"Are you ok, Seeker? You look kinda, umm, flustered," Vem said, and Liam smiled at him.

"I'm good, Vem, just this whole meeting a new species thing, you know?" he said, and the big Xeno smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, everyone is utterly stoked, Seeker Analise brought the Draconis boy down to the mess hall for something to eat earlier, poor thing looked like he'd never seen that much food in his life, he was so nervous and excited all at the same time, he literally didn't believe that he could have anything he wanted off the menu, though I have to say watching his face when he tried pasta for the first time was a true joy, though not as much as watching him tackle cheese cake, I don't think I've ever ever seen someone so happy," Vem said, and Liam smiled.

"Yeah, Celia was kinda the same with the pulled pork," he said, and Vem laughed.

"Yeah, I heard about the ambassador's appetite, not even my queen eats that much," he said with a soft chuckle, and Liam nodded.

"Big healthy girl needs her nutrients to stay that way, plus, according to her, they only eat every couple of days so the quantity kinda makes sense in that context, I mean, think about how big your queen's meal would be if she took it all in a one weeks worth hit," Liam said, and Vem looked thoughtful then laughed.

"Yeah, I'm not delivering that, I'd need a dump truck and then my poor king would have to endure a week of her nagging him about her tail getting fat," he said, and Liam laughed and nodded.

"Alright, I'd better get back, the ambassador will be done with her shower soon," he said, and Vem nodded and waved as he left, Liam closed the door and he heard the shower shut off, after that silence except for some rustling which he guessed was her grabbing the towels, it was amazing how quiet their kind moved but then given that they had no feet and their weight was in a constant transfer state not to mention so evenly spread out it kinda made sense.

He looked at the uniform they had made her, it was based on what she was already wearing, it kinda looked like a dress suit with a bit of a regal flair to it, the underwear was also very human, well the upper ones were, it was just a plain old bra, but the lower ones looked well, rather exotic, a kinda stick on triangle designed to cover her up.

"Umm, Celia, I have your clothes here when you're ready," Liam said.

"Ok, thank you, if you could just hand them through the door please," she called, and Liam walked over to the door and she opened it part way, sticking her bare arm out through the gap, he handed her the clothing and she pulled it back inside with a surprising yank hard enough to pull Liam right along with it.

"Whoa!" Liam exclaimed as the door swung open and he began to fall but like the purest instinct his Dream Warrior instincts kicked in and his whole body lit up like a sparkler, it was like time itself slowed down to a near stop, as he was falling Liam saw Celia's face was a mask of pure surprise and shock, Liam coiled up and propelled himself up and over her with a leap, spinning and kicking off the ceiling and then vaulting off the floor using his hands before flipping back onto his feet once again, clearing her and landing on his feet at the door again only this time with his back to her.

Time sped back up and Liam's power subsided, "Whoa! I'm so...sorry? Wait, what? How?" Celia exclaimed all at once, her voice rapidly changing through a spectrum of surprise, Liam turned back to her with a big smile which froze on his face as he turned just in time to see the towel that had been wrapped around her large body fluttered to the ground at his feet and he felt his eyes go as wide as saucers as his mind drank in the sight before them.

Pure alien feminine beauty made flesh or rather scale, two large, pert breasts swung free, revealing two dark green nipples at their centre, a stomach made of rippling abdominal muscles that would make a hardened Yautja green with envy, they looked like they'd been chiseled out of pure emerald, following that bumpy road down lead into what looked like flared hips though why she'd have hips without legs was a bit of a mystery, but nestled perfectly in the little triangle they created in her glass smooth scales was a perfect little slit in her scales.

Her face changed from one of surprise to to one of embarrassment and anger and Liam instantly snapped his mouth shut and spun on the spot, "Ambassador, my sincere apologies!" he exclaimed, then quickly picked up her fallen clothing and held them out to her blind feeling them being snatched from his hand he quickly closed the door behind him and headed to the bed where he sat down opened his eyes, blew out a held breath and tried in vain to push the image that was now seared into his mind.

A few moments later the ambassador slithered out of the bathroom, now fully dressed but still wearing the angry and embarrassed look on her face, "Ambassador, I am so sorry, please accept my sincere apologies, I never meant to look, I swear I didn't, it just sort of happened, I'll of course assign you another guide to escort you around the ship," he said.

"No!" she snapped very quickly and surprisingly aggressively and moved quicker than he would have guessed possible for someone of her size moving forward towards him but not touching him or grabbing at him, just moved closer.

"I do not wish to have someone else escort me, I asked specifically for you and your Grand Patriarch assured me that you would do just that," she said, her voice sounding conflicted but purposeful.

"Well, of course I will if that is what you wish ambassador but I just thought that maybe given the circumstances you would prefer another," she said.

"Do not presume to make judgements or decisions for me, I am quite capable of making them for myself, thank you very much," she said in a rather sharp tone that took him aback slightly.

Liam drew himself up and put on his professional face and he looked her right in the eye, "Very well ambassador as you wish," he said in a rather flat neutral tone, it was obvious to him that he'd embarrassed her, albeit by accident and different species reacted to embarassment differently, for example, embarrassing a Yautja was quite often the last thing anyone ever did, he guessed that her kind were similar, the females obviously didn't handle it all too well.

Celia glared at him for a few moments as they stood in an awkward silence then she seemed to break her conflict and she blew out a heavy sigh, "My apologies to you, Seeker Liam, I did not mean to react so harshly towards you, it was an accident after all, I misjudged my strength towards you and inadvertently pulled you from your feet, so if there is fault here it is mine, it's just no male has ever seen me...seen me..." she said, trailing off as her embarrassment began to flare again and this time he noticed that her scales around her face actually seemed to flush blue.

"Naked?" he said in a soft voice, and her head snapped up and her eyes locked onto his with a fierce glare again that made him step back and wonder whether he was about to have to defend himself as her coils tightened and her muscles bunched beneath them sending ripples through her scales.

"Yes quite," she almost spat.

"Like I said, I offer my sincerest apologies to you, lady ambassador, it was not my intention to look upon you like that," he said.

"Why not!?" she snapped, taking him aback again and his brain seemed to short circuit as it tried to figure out what was going on.

"You said you did not wish to look upon me in that way, does that not mean that you would not find me attractive? Is my species repulsive to you or is it just me who is repulsive to you?' she asked in a voice that was both aggressive and almost desperate.

"T-T-That's not what I meant, lady ambassador..." he began, but she cut him off.

"Then what did you mean? Explain it to me at once!" she barked, slithering right up to him and this time coiling herself around him like she did in the shower, invading his personal space but not actually touching him, she lowered her head and her eyes locked onto him.

Liam's defensive measure kicked in and he dove clear, moving so fast that to her eyes he would have appeared to shimmer and then vanish before reappearing on the far side of the room with his back to the wall facing her.

Celia looked utterly stunned, her head swished to locate him and when she saw him she moved towards him again but this time because of his position she was unable to encircle him, "How do you keep doing that!? You move like nothing I've ever seen!" she exclaimed.

"I'm a Dream Warrior, we're a lot faster and stronger than we appear, among other things," he said.

"Dream Warrior, I though you were human?" she asked, dancing back and forth in an odd sway that kinda reminded him of a cobra being charmed by a flute that he'd seen in a vid back in school when they'd learned of Earth fauna and its similarities to their own.

"I am, human is my parent species but a Dream Warrior is something more than our parent species, we have abilities far beyond that of them, we're faster, stronger, we can read minds if we touch another, things like that, it's how we become a Seeker, you can't be a Seeker of Truth without first being a Dream Warrior, the Clan takes us and trains us and gives us a chance to use these abilities for good, to allow us to protect the innocent and root out evil and darkness, to seek the truth among the lies and to use it to protect those who need it," Liam said, repeating part of the Seeker oath as an explanation, all the while his heart was hammering in his chest, though only part in fear, he wasn't quite sure what else was there.

"Read minds by touch...so that's how your Patriarch got inside my head and put your language there, how he took mine from me, he's one too, right, a Seeker of Truth?" she asked, and Liam nodded.

"Yes, he's the leader of all Seekers and the commander of the Soul Knights, his son Ryan Mason is the leader of the Tamers," Liam said.

"Soul Knights? Tamers? What are they? Explain," she demanded.

"They are different sects within our order, you see, most Dream Warriors are drawn either to the ethereal and spirit or to the warm embrace of mother nature herself, I, like our Grand Patriarch, am a Soul Knight, that means my gifts let me touch the realm of spirits and the beyond, Analise, the human female Seeker you saw with the large fire tiger at her side called Zed is a Tamer, her gifts let her commune with nature itself, to tame the hearts of even the wildest of beasts and draw them under her thrall," he said.

Celia seemed to visibly calm down now as her mind began processing all of this, she drew herself back and coiled herself up tightly, tapping her chin as she thought this over, "Are all Seekers human?" she asked, and Liam shook his head.

"No, I can see why it looks that way but honestly there are more Yautja Dream Warriors than human by about ten to one, it just so happens that we were the first found and trained and therefore have the most experience, so we've risen through the ranks," he said.

"So other species can be Dream Warriors too? Do you think that there are Dream Warriors among my people?" she asked, and Liam shrugged.

"I could not answer that, but if there are there we'll find them or they'll find us, Seekers of Balance are better at finding others than the other sects, well, apart from the Grand Patriarch, he seems to be kinda a blend of all three, but he favors the spirit realm so he leads the Soul Knights," Liam explained.

"These Seekers of Balance find other Dream Warriors like you?" Celia asked, and Liam nodded.

"Incredible, it seems there is so much more to learn about your people than I could have ever even began to believe," she said, and Liam nodded.

"I'm happy you think so and I'd be glad to teach you for the chance to learn about your people in exchange," Liam said, and she looked at him again and he was relived to see a smile cross her face.

"I'd be glad to teach you, but first there is the matter of the slight I suffered in the bathroom, I'd like to address this issue first before we can move on," she said, and Liam nodded.

"Agreed, like I said it, was regrettable and it was an accident, but I also apologise for my part in it, I should have immediately looked away or closed my eyes and I did not, my curiosity caught me off guard so for that I offer my sincere and heartfelt apologies," he said.

She nodded approvingly, "I understand that this is your people's vessel and therefore is under your laws and therefore I cannot enforce this only request it, but my people have a custom, we believe if an apology is indeed sincere it must be made with a gesture that shows the truth of the words made and the sincerity behind them," she said, looking at him right in the eyes.

"A gesture?" Liam said, and she nodded.

"We believe in equality and fairness, and a gesture like that is often made of equal nature to make up for the slight," she said.

Liam nodded, "That sounds actually very logical to me, so you would like me to make a gesture to you to show the sincerity of my words in apology, correct?" he said, and she nodded.

"Yes, that's correct, since my honor was sullied it is only fair, correct?" she said, and he nodded.

"Yes, that sounds fair, ambassador," he said.

Her face broke into a wider smile, "I'm glad you think so and I am happy to know that your people believe in fairness," she said.

"So what gesture to prove my sincerity would you like me to make, ambassador?" Liam asked.

"Oh, that's easy, since you saw me as I truly am I believe it is only fair that I be allowed to see you as you truly are, therefore I want you to strip," she said, still wearing that smile and Liam's heart sank like a stone before hitting his stomach and exploding into a billion butterflies.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Cultural Exchange.

  
Liam stood staring at the expectant smiling Serpentinus woman whose tongue was flickering at him rather rapidly, he thought he must have misheard her, "Wait, you want me to strip? Like, naked?" he exclaimed, and her smile widened and she nodded.

  
"Well, yes, as it's only fair, don't you think? You saw me naked and accidently or not I believe fair reparation would be for me to get the very same consideration, if you are worried that I will embarrass you in-front of your peers or of them reprimanding you for unprofessional conduct don't be, I will not mention a word of this to anyone as it is not my wish to embarrass you or to get you into trouble, only to be fairly compensated as I would be on my own world and as you assured me that your people believe in honor and fairness I would expect this of you," she said, her voice sounding silky and soft the entire time.

  
Liam swallowed hard, he felt very uncomfortable about this, granted technically it was true that yes he had seen her naked but it was not his fault, technically it was hers for yanking him off his feet and pulling him into the room, but as a Seeker and more so as a Soul Knight which was the unit of Jack Mason himself and he was the second in command of that unit, he prided himself on being a paragon of honor and as much as it right at this moment felt like that stance was biting him in the ass, he couldn't help but feel that she was right.

  
"Alright, fine, let it never be said that Seeker Liam Silver Mason doesn't honor the laws of other cultures," he said, feeling those butterflies going ape shit in his stomach again, a part of him was actually kinda excited about this, he knew that he didn't really have anything to be ashamed of body wise as he took the physical part of the Seeker physical requirement very seriously and was very good at long distance running and endurance training, he wasn't the biggest especially when compared to their Yautja companions, but he could out do just about every single one of them when it came to stamina, in fact, there were only three people who could out do him, Jack Mason himself, Tik eleth and Ryan.

  
So Liam was utterly solid and chiseled, he was proud of his body and rightly so, in keeping with Yautja traditions he kept the scars he'd earned in training and hunting, but he was of mixed opinion about this being compelled to show it off part, it just didn't sit right with him, especially as he knew if the shoe was on the other foot so to speak given that she had no feet he'd have never asked her to do this, but he very much did not want to be the reason behind her becoming offended by his refusal to respect her customs or refusing to make reparations for his slight on her person, after all, was it truly all that unreasonable to request to see someone naked who had seen you naked, because, as she had said, she wasn't demanding this as she knew she couldn't, she was requesting it.

  
Liam actually felt himself trembling and his hands shaking as he unbuttoned his uniform collar and unzipped it, which was a one piece overall over the top of an under shirt and boxers, Celia as soon as she realized he was complying with her request slithered closer and watched him intently as he pulled the overalls down to his waist, "Is it ok if I leave my boots on and simply pull it down rather than take it completely off, it is a major pain in the ass to take off and put those boots on again," Liam asked in a soft voice that made him feel more embarrassed as he heard it, how the hell had she managed to rob him of his confidence?

  
He was a full trained Seeker who had fought against Tik eleth and won, he had hunted some of the most dangerous predators on the planet alongside both Tik eleth herself and Jack Mason, he had been made the second in command of the Soul Knights and somehow this made him nervous, he tried in vain to quell the shaking in his hands.

  
"What are boots?" she asked curiously.

  
"These things on my feet," Liam said, shaking a foot at her, she looked down at them and cocked her head curiously then nodded, "As much as I would like to argue that you saw every inch of me I suppose you can see the vast majority of my tail section at all times as I don't have feet, so that is acceptable," she said, smiling and flicking her tongue at him.

  
Liam felt the trembling in his hands getting worse as he gripped the base of his under shirt and pulled it up over his head, revealing his bare chest, and he placed it down on the bed next to him, he felt his cheeks burning which was made infinitely worse by the fact that Celia did that whole utterly invade your personal space thing that she or maybe her whole race were so good at, loosely encircling him as she seemed to examine his whole upper body closely with obvious fascination and interest burning in her bright golden eyes.

  
He tongue was going ninety to the dozen and more than once he swore that it brushed his actual skin but it was so light he couldn't tell if it actually made contact with him or simply disturbed the air so closely that it felt like it.

  
"So you do have hair on your body as well, I did wonder," she said in a curious voice.

  
"Umm, yeah, my kind evolved from primates, a form of mammal on the distant original homeworld of my species," Liam said.

  
"Is it to keep you warm? Does it serve any purpose?" she asked curiously.

  
"Originally it would have and it was originally a lot thicker, covering our entire bodies, but given that my species obviously wears clothes now so we evolved to compensate for that and to prevent overheating, so it thinned and it's now more redundant than anything," Liam explained, oddly fascinated at her fascination but then remembered she'd never seen an evolved mammal before so this was all new to her.

  
Liam began to take a deep breaths as he prepared to expose himself fully to her, it was the first time other than medicals with the Battle Angels that any female would have seen him in all his glory, naked, vulnerable and exposed.

  
He saw her golden eyes fix on him and her gaze was utterly intense, her head actually began to sway side to side almost hypnotically as her eyes roamed down his naked torso, Liam was kinda hairy, his chest was covered in a matt of dark, curly hair that formed a T shape across his pectorals and running down his stomach to his groin.

  
Celia's tongue was going crazy, flicking in and out of her mouth almost constantly, looking like a small thin version of one of those blow whistle things that extended a long coil of colored plastic when you blew into them, a sudden loud shrilling noise made them both jump a mile and Liam realized that his communicator was bleeping, "I'd better get this," he said, grabbing at the small round device in his pocket, Celia looked annoyed at the interruption.

  
Liam fumbled the device out of his pocket and press the answer button, "Seeker Silver here, go ahead," he said.

  
"Liam, do you still have the Ambassador with you?" Tik eleth's voice came through the small device with such clarity that she could have been standing right next to them.

  
"Err, yes, Grand Matriarch, we're in her quarters, I was just preparing to take her on a further tour of the ship," Liam said, trying to cover the nerves in his voice and most likely failing, there were very few people who could pull the wool over the eyes of Tik eleth, she never missed a trick.

  
"Excellent, report to the bridge immediately, we have two things that need her attention, please do not delay," Tik said.

  
"Roger that, Grand Matriarch, we will be there immediately," Liam said, blowing out a huge held sigh of breath, it looks like fate had saved him.

  
"Good, Tik eleth out," she replied and closed that comms down, and immediately Liam grabbed his shirt and pulled it back on, making Celia's eyes go wide and rather angry or maybe frustrated, he hadn't learned their facial expressions fully yet.

  
"Sorry, Ambassador, we'll have to do this another time, it does not pay to keep the Grand Matriarch waiting," Liam said, feeling thankful to Paya or the Great Tree or whoever the hell had been looking over his shoulder this day for throwing him a lifeline.

  
Celia suddenly looked disappointed but then her face cracked into a smile, "Very well, Seeker Liam, I believe you to be a male of honor who would not give his word lightly, so I will simply accept your word to me that you will honor this debt when an opportunity presents itself to us in the future, so, do you give it?" she said, and Liam's heart froze, he'd just shot himself in the foot, trapped by his own code of honor.

  
"I do, Celia, I give you my word," he said, sounding as forlorn as he felt and she drew herself up and nodded, obviously pleased to have won this prize from him.

  
"Good, and I will hold you to it you can count on it, now, come, you'd better smarten yourself up, it would not do to present yourself before your superiors in a disheveled state or they may suspect that we have been up to no good," she said with an almost playful sounding note in her voice as she smiled at him, flicking her tongue at him as she did.

  
Liam redressed and straightened his uniform up and fixed his hair before opening the door and gesturing for the Ambassador to join him, she slithered out first as he held the door and then the pair began to head down the corridor heading for the bridge, he really couldn't get a read on this confusing woman, maybe it was their species or it was just her, on one hand she was a curious and fascinating and highly intelligent person, on the other she seemed to have a rather domineering and aggressive side which was both a bit scary and also kinda attractive, though why he would find that attractive he didn't really understand, maybe it was something to do with hanging about with Yautja girls all day and it was something that all of them seemed to have, they were not scared to go after what they wanted, to hunt it down and catch their prey no matter what.

  
He noticed that Celia kept glancing at him as they moved through the ship, "Something wrong, Ambassador?" he asked.

  
"Oh, it's just you haven't said a word since we left the room, I was just wondering if something is wrong?" she said.

  
There was that observant streak again, Liam decided to brush it off as he didn't want to upset or offend her, "No, I'm fine, just thinking is all," he said, and she nodded.

  
"Anything you care to share?" she asked.

  
Honestly he was worrying about the time she was going to pull in this marker that he now seemed to owe her and how he actually felt about it but he didn't want her to know that, though he found himself wondering if it was actually because he didn't want her to feel bad about it which was kinda an odd thought but there it was, "Oh, just about what my Grand Matriarch is calling us about and what happened on that ship, I didn't get a chance to perform a soul summoning so we're left with a mystery here and my kind really both hate and love mysteries, we hate having them and love to solve them, granted on one hand they were kidnappers and slavers so I know this sounds bad but I honestly don't mind those types of people getting a dose of karma and getting killed, but to die like that? That doesn't sit well with me," Liam said, falling into the train of thought that had been bugging him since the ship, so a lie in essence as that wasn't what was at the forefront of his mind right now, but also not quite a lie as in truth it had been in his mind.

  
She nodded thoughtfully then seemed to freeze, "What is a soul summoning?" she asked.

  
"It allows Soul Knight Dream Warriors like myself to speak to the dead, it's easier to do when the dead are recent and if the death was traumatic, it creates a huge psychic imprint which we can use to pull those souls to us," Liam explained, and Celia looked at him wide eyed and awe struck.

  
"You truly have that kind of power!?" she exclaimed, and she snapped around in front of him with wide eyes and her tongue going as if she was somehow trying to taste his power.

  
"Umm, yeah, Soul Knights specialise in the Spiritual realm, which means our connection to the Spirit realms or afterlife is much stronger than the other types of Dream Warriors, they call us God touched because deities tend to seek out Soul Knights because of our connections to their realms, same is true of lost or wandering spirits, they seek out Soul Knights in order to either just speak to us so we can help them or because they're lost and lonely and want our help to move on," Liam said, explaining.

  
Celia looked utterly amazed at this, "It is utterly amazing to me that beings like you actually exist and it makes me wonder of all the the stories, myths and folktales from the past of my people actually had truth to them now, our scholars have been debating their accuracy and truth, tale of people doing incredible things that seemed to bridge into the realm of magic, but now I wonder if they were actually based off the stories of possible Dream Warrior encounters among my people," she said thoughtfully.

  
"It's quite possible, granted we've only encountered two other races than the three we already know of and we haven't found any among the Xenos yet but that doesn't say that there aren't any, I simply believe we have more Yautja and Human Dream Warriors because most Xeno hives do not operate like the ones on our world and they aren't space faring, so they may very well have Dream Warriors among their number but they are just unknown to us," he said, and Celia looked thoughtful at this and nodded in agreement.

  
"When we reach my planet I would very much like to introduce you to some of our most note worthy scholars, two of which are among my pack, both are published scholars in their fields of study, the other member of my pack is a scientist who studies biology at the top university hospital in our city, I'm not sure exactly what it is she studies exactly, I'm not a scientist, but I know she's incredibly smart, all four of us answer directly to the leaders of our territory, my expertise is in politics and diplomatic studies, hence why I was made an ambassador to represent our people in negotiations with the other races like the Raptorians," she said, sounding very proud of her pack family's accomplishments and status within their social strata, though Liam did wonder whether she was telling him this because she was so proud of her pack that she felt the need to share their accomplishments or whether she was trying to impress him, or maybe a bit of both.

  
"Ummm, sure, I guess, I mean, obviously I don't know how our visit will go and if I will be needed elsewhere, the Seekers might be an order but we are still a military organization so we go where we're told, but if our Grand Patriarch allows it I'd be happy to meet with your pack," Liam said, making Celia smile and nod.

  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure it happens, I am most excited to introduce you to my pack, I'm sure they will be as impressed by you as I am," she said with a kind of odd smile.

  
Liam pressed the call button for the lift that would take them to the bridge and as the doors opened he gestured for Celia to enter first, she slithered in and as he stepped in behind her she loosely coiled her tail around him again, pretty much filling the lift, though Liam was pretty sure that she could have simply coiled herself up in the corner but she seemed to prefer to spread herself out while at the same time utterly invading his space, her species obviously had no concept of personal space but then given their size that wasn't that surprising.

  
The elevator moved quickly and as they reached the bridge the doors whooshed open and Celia unwound herself from him and slithered out onto the bridge, followed by Liam where they found Jack and Tik waiting for them, both of them seemed to be looking at him and Tik gave him a very odd smile before they turned their attention to Celia, "Ahh, Ambassador, good to see you, I hope Seeker Silver has been taking good care of you," Tik said, and Celia smiled and nodded.

  
"Oh, yes, your people are most gracious and fascinating, Tik eleth, Liam has been very accomodating," Celia said with a big, warm smile, and Tik nodded.

  
"Good, I'm glad to see my Seekers are representing us well, I would expect nothing less of the second in command of the Soul Knights," Jack said.

  
"So, what did you call us for, have you found something?" Celia asked, and both Jack and Tik nodded.

  
"We're still analysing the data from the ship logs but we've also been going through the star charts and we're thinking we've actually located your homeworld," Jack said, and Celia looked amazed.

  
"But I haven't even looked at the charts yet so how could that be possible?" she asked, and Jack smiled.

  
"Well, the Dreamer is equiped with state of the art sensors designed by a Xeno hive on our homeworld we all call the Hive mind because it's literally full of scientific and engineering geniuses, these are Xenos that literally built a completely cybernetic cat from scratch and designed a process that allowed our Battle Angels to transplant said dying cat's brain and spinal chord into this body along with all of its blood and boom, robo cat, they did it in two days, so, yeah, trust me when I say these girls and guys eat, sleep, and dream tech, they designed this entire ship from bow to stern, these sensors are so sensitive they can detect the movement of a grain of dust two light years away, so, yeah, powerful, well, we've been detecting encrypted transmissions from this sector and from what he have been able to decipher it's in the Serpentinus language," Jack said, bringing up a holo map of the solar system.

  
Celia looked at it and slithering around it to see it from a different angle she looked at the star system that had a pulsing glowing ring around it, she instantly nodded and looked highly impressed, "Yes, this is my homeworld, this here is the Raptorian system, this here is the Draconis system and this one the Scalathor," Celia said, drawing a box shape with her finger, pointing to four different star systems in turn, starting with her own.

  
Instantly the Xeno navigator who was sat at her console next to the holo map instantly ringed all four system and marked them up with the names of their species.

  
"Ok, at cruising speed we can get us there in only a couple of jumps, now that we know the frequencies your comms systems work on we can lock on to any relay satellites you have out there and broadcast any messages you wish to send home to inform them of your status and..." Tik began, but that's when the Yautja at the comms station suddenly jumped out of his seat and drew the attention of all four of them.

  
"Grand Patriarch and Matriarch forgive the interruption but we're detecting a huge increase in the volume of comms traffic from the Serpentinus region, we can't read the majority of it because it's encrypted but what we have managed to filter is talking about some kind of attack!" he said, and instantly both Jack and Tik's faces went instantly business like.

  
"Put in a call to HQ, I want as many ships as we can spare along with as many Guardians as we can spare without compromising defence, that's Hunters, Seekers, Saviors and Battle Angels, send them the coordinates," Jack said, and the comms officer saluted and ran back to his station to begin transmitting.

  
"Helmsman Kintar, set a course for the Serpentinus homeworld, maximimum speed, I want us there as fast as possible," Tik yelled, and the helmsman saluted and began plotting with the help of the Xeno navigator, minimizing the time it would take to get them there.

  
"Ambassador, are your species currently involved in any wars or battles that we need to know about?" Jack said, turning to the ambassador and she shook her head, looking both pale and very distressed.

  
"No! I swear to you I have no idea what's happening, what did your comms officer hear? Do you know what type of attacks they were or where they were? is anybody hurt?" she asked in a rapid fire panicked voice.

  
Liam stepped forwards and placed a hand on her shoulder and using his gifts he helped to calm her mind, "Just breathe, Celia, we're going to help, it's code of the Guardian Core to assist any and all who need us and to protect the innocent, whoever or wherever they may be, we'll get to the bottom of this and we'll do what we can, you have my word," he said, putting real emphasis on that last part as reference to their conversation earlier and it worked, she started taking deep breaths and looked at him and nodded.

  
"T-Thank you Liam, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get hysterical," she said quietly, and he squeezed her big, solid shoulder reassuringly.

  
"Don't sweat it, Celia, it's a perfectly reasonable reaction to finding out your people have been attacked, but rest assured we will do everything we can to help," he said, and she gave a weak smile.

  
Both Tik and Jack nodded approvingly, both of them stepped forward and also gripped her shoulders, "Our Seeker Liam speaks the truth, Ambassador, don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this and we'll do whatever we can to assist," Tik eleth said.

  
"Response from HQ, Grand Matriarch and Patriarch, they confirm that the Core is mobilizing the fleet and they will join us as soon as possible," the comms officer called out.

  
Jack pressed the internal comms button, "All stations, red alert, all personnel to battle stations, I want all Seekers, Hunters and Battle Angels in full battle gear and ready to go, this is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!" he said, and instantly the whole ship was set into combat mode and everyone scrambled.

  
Liam turned to leave and instantly Celia grabbed his shoulder, "Where are you going!?" she exclaimed, her voice taking on that panicked note and he forgot that he'd been calming her mind for her.

  
"I have to gear up in my armor and get my weapons, Ambassador, the Seekers are first and foremost Special Forces soldiers and I will be needed at my station," he said, and Celia looked very unsure and unhappy about this, it was obvious that as her guide she was taking reassurance from his presence.

  
Tik placed a large hand on her shoulder, "Do not worry, Ambassador, you can remain on the bridge here with us, most likely we won't need to deploy our soldiers but this is just a precaution, Seeker Liam will be back in a moment," Tik said, and Celia nodded and followed her back across the bridge, taking a last glance at Liam as he stepped into the lift.

  
In the armory, Hunters, Seekers and Saviors were scrambling, getting geared up, the Battle Angels had their own separate area, Analise was there strapping on her armor and outfitting Zed with his, "What's happening?" she asked as soon as she saw Liam.

  
"Not sure exactly, but there's some sort of on-going attack on the Serpentinus homeworld, we're going in hot to assist," Liam said, and he was aware of a few of the others around him listening in as he clipped his plasma casters into place and checked their gimbals.

  
"Oh, great, two attacks in one day, well, you gotta give the Core this, it's never boring, fly to unknown parts of space, find space ships full of skinned alien corpses, meet huge snake girls and pretty dragon boys, escape exploding space ships and now we got planetary attacks, just another day in the Guardian Core," Analise said with a grin, and then she looked at Liam with a raised eyebrow.

  
"Why are you smiling at me like that?" she asked.

  
'"You called our new Draconis friend pretty, never had you pegged as a scalie, Ana," he said, and she blushed crimson.

  
"Well I, err, umm, well, you know, he's just so exotic and pretty and he's just so innocent and sweet, he's amazed by absolutely everything, plus, he's just utterly shocked that he doesn't actually have to do anything for me, he keeps trying to fetch food for me or to do chores for me and he seems utterly stunned when I do things for him, he's been abused and treated so badly, Liam, the things he's been through and seen, no one, no one should ever be treated that way, no one should ever have to experience what he has, so to see the look in those pretty eyes of his when he sees something as simple and beautiful as a plant, or the look of utter surprise and true joy when someone hands him a plate of food is utterly amazing and wonderful," Analise said thoughtfully, and a little sadly as she recounted some of what she'd learned about Kelmar.

  
"Poor guy has had it real rough," Liam said, and Analise shot him a look.

  
"You lose your favorite sword you have it rough, your ever loyal fire tiger pee's on the temple rugs for the third time forcing you to have to scrub it for four hours to get the bloody smell out you have it rough," she said, shooting a look at a guilty looking Zed.

  
"You stub your little toe on the corner of the bed you got it rough, what that poor boy has been through just because of what he is is horrendous, that boy deserves to have something good in his life, something to show him how to embrace his newfound freedom," Analise said.

  
"And maybe embrace a certain Tamer girl not so very far away while he's at it, huh?" Liam said teasingly, making her flush again, she punched him in the shoulder, making him laugh.

  
"Hey, if we wanna talk about embracing, how's the ambassador doing?" she asked, and Liam raised an eyebrow at her as they both finished clipping their weapons on and both turned to head to the bridge ready for deployment, as the second in command to their respective parts of the Seekers their place was at their commander's side to be ready.

  
"What made you think of her in relation to embracing?" Liam asked, and Analise gave him a sly smile.

  
"Seriously? She's a snake girl, how can you not look at her and wonder what it's like to get hugged by her? I mean, all those coils, damn, that's gotta be a lot of serious hugging potential," she said, and Liam shot her a sly smile.

  
"Well, I wasn't before but now I am, hmmm, snake girl hugging powerless and helpless human girl," Liam said thoughtfully, scratching the part of his helmet where his chin was, making Analise laugh then punch his shoulder again.

  
"You're bloody terrible, you know that?" she said, and he grinned at her.

  
"Alright, alright, I'll let you replace the snake girl with dragon boys for your own fantasy," he said, earning him yet another punch.

  
"God, you're awful violent, woman, I hope you're not like this when your cute, walking talking Welsh dragon tries to tell you his fantasies, poor boy won't know what's hit him," Liam joked, but something of a scowl crossed over Analise's face.

  
"Don't even joke about that, Liam, I would never hurt him, ever, all that boy has ever known is pain, suffering, degradation, indignity, humiliation and fear, pure fear, I'm swearing this before you and Paya right now, while I'm around he will never suffer those things ever again, I will protect him, I will be his Guardian," Analise said, and Liam looked stunned.

  
"Whoa, now, Analise, I know you feel strongly about this but are you sure you wanna do this? You know as well as I do our kind can't take back a promise to Paya, she'll take it as an insult and forbid you your place in the Eternal Hunt, I mean, what if he doesn't even think of you like that? What if he's not attracted to you?" Liam said, and Analise shot him a look.

  
"I don't have to be attracted to someone to guard them, Liam, if he is not then so be it, he is free to make every choice that guides his life now and I will make sure that he always is, we guard people every single day, that's why we're Dream Warriors and what's more, we are Guardians, and while I still draw breath I swear before Paya he is protected," Analise said.

  
Suddenly a silk soft voice slithered through their minds and undoubtably every other Seeker mind aboard, "So be it, child, promise made and accepted, I expect you to keep it," it said, and Liam shot her a look.

  
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," he said, but Analise just looked surprised at first then determined.

  
The elevator opened onto the bridge and the pair stepped out and both Jack and Tik had now been joined by Shena, Sela eleth and Ryan all dressed in their armor and armed to the teeth, both jack and Tik had their quarters accessible from the bridge and their gear was stowed there so they'd slipped out and gotten changed as well, the only one with them not wearing gold or blue armor and armed to the teeth was Celia who was looking at the readouts nervously.

  
"So, which one of you made a promise to Paya?" Jack said, glancing at them and Liam side pointed across his body at Analise, Jack just nodded.

  
"Make sure you keep it, no matter what," he said, and she nodded.

  
"I will count on it," she said, and Ryan planted a large hand on her shoulder.

  
"I would expect nothing less from my second in command, do me proud, kid," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

  
Celia seemed to notice the pair of Seekers now and slithered over to them and her face seemed to brighten as she saw Liam, "What will happen now?" she asked.

  
"Well, that all depends on what we find when we get to your homeworld, we're pushing our engines as hard as we can and our arrival shouldn't be long, we're a couple of hours out but we're going to do what we can no matter what," Jack said.

  
"All hands, man your battle stations, we're exiting hyperspace in one minute, I want every gun ready to fire and every fighter ready to launch, we're going to show whatever is on the other side of this jump why you don't pauk with Clan Mason and the Guardian Core!" Tik boomed into the ship comms, her voice booming through the whole vessel and through the whole ship, the answering roar of pride echoed from every surface as they answered her call to arms and made the ship ready.

  
The Dreamer snapped out of hyperspace and instantly everything went crazy, though the main view and the bridge window instantly the planet appeared, it was a mixture of lush greens and vast stretches of golden yellows, there were oceans of blue but they were far, far smaller than Earth or even Clan Mason's homeworld, Liam instantly found himself wondering if they had sea snake girls as well which was a seriously odd thought to pop into anyone's head right at that moment.

  
"Multiple contacts! I'm picking up four orbital defence platforms, all heavily damaged and out of commission, multiple life signs on all, all Serpentinus, picking up multiple damaged vessels, all frigate class in size, life signs are all Serpentinus, lots of debris indicating multiple destroyed ships, picking up both Scalathor and Serpentinus bodies in the wreckage, looks like the Serpentinus took out at least six large ships before they got overwhelmed," the sensor operator called.

  
"By the Great Tree! M-M-My home! I cannot believe the Scalathor would do this! Sure they've sabre rattled before, b-b-but those are innocent civilians down there!" Celia exclaimed in a stammering voice, looking at the scene of chaos and devastation outside.

  
"I'm picking up ground fighting, looks like commando units are engaged with Serpentinus in what appears to be the capital city, if my estimation is correct they seem to be trying to converge on a very heavily defended area in the centre of the city," the sensor operator called.

  
"The palace! They're going for the royal family! Please, you have to stop them! M-M-My pack is in there!" Celia almost screamed as the realisation hit her hard.

  
"Ambassador, please, get a hold of yourself, I'm going to need you to begin broadcasting to your people that help is coming and who we are so that we don't come under attack from friendlies down there, tell your people the Guardian Core is here to help," Jack said, and motioned to the comms officer, he led the obviously shaken and deeply worried Serpentinus woman over to the comms system where she began broadcasting in her native language to try and establish communications with her people.

  
"Helmsman, let's drive those fuckers out of orbit from above the city, I want their retreat and reinforcements cut off, gunners, blow those fucking ships out of the sky! Launch all fighters, we're going in, all Seeker, Hunter and Battle Angel teams to your drop pods, we're taking the express elevator down!" Jack called into the ship comms.

  
Immediately the Dreamers powerful forward battery of rail guns fired, sending huge tungsten slugs screaming towards the nearest of the two Scalathor heavy frigates, they'd angled the shots so that if they missed their targets they would speed harmlessly out into space and not hit the planet, potentially devastating the civilian populace below, the four huge front facing cannons sent the huge tungsten slugs screaming into space at incredible speed and all four impacted on the shields of the Scalathorian frigate, sending huge blue electric ripples around it, it was now that both ships seemed to notice the super heavy frigate bearing down on them and began returning fire, streaks of light tore towards them, most missing but one or two impacting on the Dreamers heavy shields.

  
"Three hits, minimal damage, they appear to be trying to use thermal weapons, some kind of high intensity lasers to try and overload our shields, shields are recharging!" the weapons officer yelled.

  
"Keep hitting them, use the plasma cannons and fire torpedoes tubes one through six!" Tik yelled as the Dreamer sped towards them, suddenly smaller ships in a series of formations streaked away from the Dreamer as the fighters and their primarily Xeno pilots sped towards their targets, the ships they were piloting were called Night Eagles, an interplanetary fighter specifically designed for both space and atmospheric combat, now their weapons wouldn't do much to the heavy shields of a frigate but the torpedo bombers that were mixed in among them most definitely would.

  
Xeno's ironically made excellent pilots, they're understanding over multi surface orientation due to the way they moved freely on any and all surfaces gave them an incredible advantage in space flight, being able to adapt to the rapidly shifting orientation of space flight and fighting, a fact that they proved when the frigates sent out fighters of their own and like a swarm of angry bees the Guardian Core pilots split up and hit them from every side at once, clearing a hole for the bombers to fly right through and unleash their deadly payload while the bigger, heavier torpedoes launched from the tubes aboard the Dreamer followed them through.

  
Out of the six torpedoes launched from the Dreamer three were destroyed by the anti fighter and torpedo weapons aboard the Scalathorian frigate but three made it through along with a great many from the torpedo bombers which were currently on their way back to rearm.

  
"All teams, report ready to drop, Hunter teams one through six are standing by, Seeker teams one and two are ready and Battle Angel teams one through six are ready, Grand Patriarch and Matriarch," the comms officer reported while Celia was still trying to raise her people.

  
"Roger that, helmsman get us into position!" Tik eleth said.

  
Suddenly the weapons officer yelled out, "The shields on the Scalathorian frigate over the capital are failing!" he yelled.

  
"Fire at will," Jack said coldly, and the forward batteries opened up again, this time scoring four direct hits and blowing four huge holes right through the ship like it was made of paper mashay.

  
"Secondary explosions detected, she's going critical!" the gunner yelled just as another series of shots impacted their shields from the second frigate, then with a bright flash and a soundless bubble of pure fire the frigate exploded into shrapnel, causing a cheer to go up on the bridge.

  
"Grand Matriarch, we're still taking fire from the other frigate, I'm reading twelve torpedoes on their way to us!" the weapons officer called.

  
"Tell the fighters to take out what they can, ready the anti air weapons!" Tik yelled.

  
"You got this, my love?" Jack said, and Tik grinned.

  
"Go, my love, I'll catch up when these fuckers are in the void being hunted by shadows," Tik snarled, stroking her husband's face with her mandibles, he nodded and kissed her deeply.

  
"Shena, take Hunter two, Hunter one will join me later," Tik said, and Shena saluted.

  
"Liam, Analise, Ryan, Sela you're with me, we're going in," Jack said, and there were four crisp salutes.

  
"Liam! Liam, please, wait!" Celia called in a panicked voice, and he turned from the elevator door to the scared and angry looking Serpentinus woman, "Please, be careful down there and find my pack, please, protect them!" she said desperately, and Liam nodded.

  
"Don't you worry, Celia, we'll save your people, just you watch," he said, and with that the elevator doors shut.

  
"Seeker team one, you are with me, Team two with Ryan, we are going to drop as close to the palace as we can, Hunter teams two through six will drop in behind the enemy and hit them in the arse, Battle Angel team one, you are with Seeker teams one and two, teams two through six, drop in behind the Hunters and do what you can for any wounded civilians and Serpentinus soldiers you find, stay on comms and report any and all troop movement you see, hopefully word is getting through to the Serpentinus troops that help's coming, remember, these guys we're facing are commando teams so that means they will be highly motivated and trained so do not underestimate them, most likely their intention is to assassinate the Serpentinus leadership, we are going to make sure that does not happen, let's move!" Jack said, and there was a loud roar of affirmation and everyone jumped into their drop pods and strapped in.

  
Liam pulled his pod canopy shut, he almost preferred orbital diving to orbital dropping, these things were bloody awful but boy did they get the job done, not built for comfort but fuck could they move.

  
"This is Seeker one, comms check, all call signs sign off," Jack's voice came through Liam's head set, now, because they were operating in different teams their call signs changed, "Seeker one two, ready to drop," Liam said, "Seeker one three, ready to drop," Rem, a female Yautja and another Soul Knight said, all Seeker team one's agents were Soul Knights.

  
"Seeker one four, ready to drop," Mav, a male Yautja said.

  
"Seeker Two one, ready to drop," Ryan said.

  
"Seeker two two and Zed, ready to drop," Analise said from her specially adapted pod, her's was the largest pod as it had Zed strapped in the back like a tiger shaped back pack.

  
"Seeker two three, ready to drop," Rita, a female human said.

  
"Seeker two four, ready to drop," Lavat, a male Yautja said.

  
The sound off went through all the Hunters next before finally reaching the Battle Angels and their mechanical comms voices called in one at a time, they also had special pods, theirs carried teams of four rather than individuals, their pods could also be opened mid flight to allow them to jump and glide to a target if need be.

  
"This is Dreamer command, all prep complete, drop in five...four...three...two...one...drop, drop, drop! Good hunting all!" Tik roared into the comms, and with a sharp jolt Liam and all the other pods shot out of the bottom of the Dreamer's special hanger bay and began rocketing towards the planet's surface and the Guardian Core's first official engagement on foreign soil as above them they watched the Dreamer firing a full broad side of rail guns at the remaining Scalathor frigate as the Guardian Core's flagship took it's position above the planet, this was not exactly how Liam had imagined his first first contact experience going, but all that was running through his head was that he was determined to do the Guardian Core proud and that he was going to find and protect Celia's pack, she was counting on him after all, and he was not going to let her down.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Best Foot Forwards.

  
Flames of gold, yellow and orange licked the glass in front of his face as Liam focused on his breathing, before battle Seekers were taught to take the time to meditate and to centre themselves, it would help to control their emotions and their abilities when the shit began to fly all around them.

The radio was in almost constant use in his headset with the call sign of who was speaking popping up in his HUD to tell him who was speaking, but Liam was tuning it out as he knew all his Seeker brothers and sisters would be doing as well, it was their time to shine and to prove themselves to their Clan and to their leaders, they had all pretty much grown up listening and hearing the war stories of their Grand Matriarch and Patriarch, both were combat veterans and had fought battles that were the stuff of legend on their world, now here they were, about to write their own chapter into that history book of Clan Mason, they were about to fight to protect a people they had only just met, far away from their homeworld, just to uphold the principles on which Clan Mason was formed, protect the innocent no matter who they are or where, stand for them for you are a Guardian and it's your sacred duty, your strength is theirs.

  
The pod began to shake and rattle as it hit the atmosphere, Liam controlled his breathing, taking deep breaths and counting his heart beats which was made easier because they were displayed in his bio reader in his HUD, which he knew the Battle Angel command aboard the Dreamer could see as swell, if his vitals went crazy or flat lined Battle Angels would be scrambling to him from every direction before he even hit the ground, because that was their sacred duty, defend life no matter what.

  
"Alright, people, here we go, heads up and eyes sharp, we're thirty seconds out so get your game faces on, all Hunter teams you know your job, listen to your squad leaders and do your duty, make sure you bounce all reports to Hunter one aboard the Dreamer or you know she'll come down here and personally kick your arse into orbit," Jack said into the comms, there was a chorus of affirmation.

  
"Battle Angel teams, make sure you keep the Hunters on their feet and help every civilian you can, once we touch that soil I don't want another civilian life lost, we will protect them no matter what, got that?" Jack said, and there was chorus of mechanical voices and screeches giving affirmation.

  
"Seeker teams, our job is both the simplest and hardest at the same time, we're dropping right into the thick of it so we're going to encounter real confusion, we don't know if Ambassoder Celia has been able to reach her people so we have to take it that we might not get a warm welcome 'till they realise why we're there, do not fire on the Serpentinus, if needed use your abilities to take them down without loss of life, we're there to protect and guard the royal family and everyone around them, those Scalathorian assassins will not reach them while we draw breath, not one of them dies by our hands or anyone else's, got that?" Jack said, his voice hard and business-like.

  
"Yes, sir!" all the Seekers, including Liam, yelled as one.

  
"Alright, people, here we go, approach confirmed, we're going in, good luck to all, see you on the ground!" Jack said, and there was a huge jolt as Liam's pod retro thrusters fired to allow it to impact without killing him, outside the window he could see a vast and incredibly beautiful city stretching out before him and getting closer and larger by the second, in the air above the city he could see other pods grouping up and heading to their drop coordinates, Liam's pod began to rotate on its axis to align itself with the others and to locate a clear set down place, mentally Liam began to count down from ten.

  
As he hit one his pod hit and the tip of the pod's sharp needle like tip bedded itself into the ground and the support legs shot out and locked it in place, "Punch out, let's do this!" Jack's voice yelled, and that was it, it was on.

  
Liam hit his canopy release and the glass canopy fired off and away from him, letting him release his harness and jump out of the pod, setting his feet down on an alien world for the first time, his weapons already powered up and ready to go, around him he saw the other pods of the other Seekers a few meters apart, the terrain was an absolutely beautiful mixture of something that wouldn't have been out of place in the ancient jungles of Earth, looking almost Aztec in their design, but then with mixtures of what looked like sandstone that wouldn't have looked out of place in the desert but with a modern spin to them.

  
Liam barely had enough time to take his first breath before glowing plasma projectiles sizzled passed his head and impacted his pod as he came under fire, Liam spun on his axis, looking for the shooter and his HUD was searching, using a vastly upgraded version of Yautja targeting software projecting laser targeting, no sooner had he turned then he saw them, four armored Scalathor were heading towards them using a set of small buildings for cover, Liam's targeting caught one of them out in the open and locked on, both his plasma casters fired at once and hit the figure dead centre in the chest, sending it flying back in a cartwheel as two blue and white flames erupted on impact.

  
"This is Seeker one two, I'm on the ground and am under fire, have engaged the Tango, one down, three still up," he said into his comms while moving to evade the incoming fire from the dead Scalathor's companions, he used both his plasma casters and his rifle to return fire on them, this gave him three times the firepower as any one of them.

  
"Roger that, we're coming to you Seeker one two," Jack's voice called, and seconds later as Liam used a wall to shield himself from incoming fire Jack appeared, plasma rounds were sizzling through the air all around him but he didn't seemed phased at all, the veteran Dream Warrior simply stood tall and proud, before letting out a bellowing roar that was echoed from a distance away which must have been Ryan or one of the other Yautja picking up the war cry, Jack's plasma casters were stitching the commandos and he was taking fire also with a few impacts rippling through the shields built into the armor, yet another invention to come out of the hive of Yoshi and Citrus, these anti-kinetic shields were primarily designed around stopping bullets or railgun slugs by robbing them of their kinetic power and preventing them from impacting the armor itself, but they were also highly effective against energy weapons as well but energy weapons would drain the shield's self charging power cells a lot quicker.

  
Jack drew his huge sword and with a movement so fast that if Liam wasn't a Dream Warrior himself he'd have had no chance of seeing it Jack dashed forward right into the middle of the commando team, moving so fast he appeared to be in two places at once, confusing his targets, as he lunged forward at the closest target, punching through the figure with that huge sword, both his plasma casters spun on their axis and fired at the two figures behind him independently.

  
In less than a second all three of the commandos were dead, Jack flicked his sword to clear the blood from the blade before setting it back in its scabbard, Mav and Rem appeared next to Liam, they were stood in front of a large building that was obviously the royal palace, it was a huge, beautiful building made of a mixture of granite, marble and what appeared to be volcanic glass, Liam had to admit that Serpentinus architecture really was something to behold, both strikingly beautiful and thoughtful.

  
There were statues of very regal looking Serpentinus females, always in groups of four, facing away from one another arranged like points on a compass, holding either swords or books or other implements obviously designed to show what each one of them specialized in, either a warrior or a scholar or teacher.

  
The platform that the Seeker pods now stood was raised up from street level by a good few feet and accessible from the winding streets beyond by a series of ramps that lead up to where the Seekers now stood, the Serpentinus didn't appear to do stairs but then without legs or feet that wasn't all that surprising, behind them set between a series of huge graphite columns was a damaged doorway that had been barricaded and judging by the dead Scalathor bodies littering the ground around them it appeared that the Serpentinus beyond had mounted an effective defence of their palace.

  
Liam looked over to the far side of the platform and he saw Ryan and Seeker team two had formed up, Analise was easily recognizable by the huge armored fire tiger at her side, "Come in, Dreamer, this is Seeker one one, Seeker teams one and two are on the ground and all accounted for, we've made contact with the enemy, give me a sitrep," Jack said into the comms.

  
"Roger that, Seeker one one, we've taken out the remaining Scalathorian frigate but they were able to get out message before we destroyed them, we haven't been able to decrypt it yet but we believe it was either a distress call or a call for reinforcements, hopefully the rest of the fleet will get here first, the Ambassoder has had some success with raising her people but we do not know how far word of our arrival has spread so be warned of possible blue on blue situations, plus we have detected multiple commando teams advancing and converging on your position, so dig in deep, my love, you're about to have your hands full, Dreamer, over and out," Tik eleth's voice replied through the comms.

  
"Alright, people, we've got fuck knuckles inbound, get to cover and dig in, Liam, get to those doors and inform the Serpentinus that we are on their side, I really don't want to be shot in the back trying to help these people," Jack said, and Liam saluted and turned towards the barricaded doors, he made his way towards it and as he did he let his rifle hand on its sling and he raised his hands to appear non threatening, he suddenly realized that communication may be a problem, while he could understand them they wouldn't be able to understand him unless he could get close enough to tag one and push English into their minds to make a ready made translator, so he was going to have deploy his Dream Warrior abilities here.

  
As he drew close he saw four rifles pointing at him through the gaps in the barricade and he could see four shadows moving behind the barricade, "That's close enough! Don't take another step! Who are you and what are you doing here? You are not a Scalathor?" a feminine sounding aggressive voice hissed in her native tongue at him.

  
"My name is Seeker Liam Silver Mason of the Seekers of Truth of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, we're here to help you, we have ambassoder Celina Diamondscale with us," Liam said in a calm, controlled voice as he watched the four rifle barrels tracking his every twitch.

  
"What is it saying? I don't recognise that language, it's not a Scalathor, but it's not a Scalathor friend either, they were fighting them a moment ago when they landed those pods, I saw this one kill one of the commandos, does that mean it's on our side?" a second voice said in Serpentinus to the others, Liam took this moment of confusion to turn things to his advantage, he activated his Emotional Manipulation ability, this would allow him to get them to remain calm long enough for him to do what he needed to, now, granted it is much stronger to those he's touching or those he's performed a mental binding on before but it was strong enough like this to work, he began to focus his mind, exuding a sense of calmness.

  
He began to move slowly forwards as he felt them beginning to falter, "It's ok, I'm not your enemy, I'm not here to hurt you," Liam said softly, his voice carrying no meaningful words for them but it wasn't the word that were important, it was the effect of the softness and control of his voice when applied within the bubble of his psychic effect, the calming effect was rather confusing to them and he could see them shaking their heads beyond the barricade as they tried to clear out the effects of his control, but it's not that easy to shake off a Dream Warrior's control.

  
"Hey, I told you not to move!" the first soldier said, but her voice was sounding muggy like she was drunk and distracted, Liam reached the barricade and he reached through it slowly and calmly and like they were utterly fascinated by his hand they simply watched him as he reached through and gripped the closest one to him blindly, but before she could recoil in shock that he'd managed to achieve this Liam deployed his powerful mental abilities and like a punch of lightning to her head Liam pushed his language into her mind and the shock of it caused her to snap out of her stupor and pull herself away from him.

  
"Hey! What the hell are you doing!? Who gave you permission to touch a royal guard!?" she yelled angrily, causing her comrades to snap out of ther stupor and as one their weapons all snapped back into the aim on him and they also seemed utterly shocked to now find him stood right before him instead of where he had been.

  
"My apologies, my good lady, I meant no offence, My name is Seeker Liam Silver Mason, I am a member of the Seekers of Truth of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, we have come here to help defend your people from attack, we rescued your ambassoder Celia Diamondscale from Scalathorian kidnappers and she led us here," Liam said.

  
"What's it saying? We do not understand you!" one of the other guards said angrily, but the one that Liam had infused with his language froze.

  
"I-I-I understood that! I understood what it was saying!" the first guard said, and the others turned their attention to her, Liam couldn't see them through the barricade, but he could see the movements they made.

  
"What? How is that possible?" One of the others asked.

  
"I-I do not know but it said that its name is Seeker Liam Silver Mason and it is something called a Seeker of Truth, a member of something called the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, it says they have our ambassoder Celia Diamondscale, that they rescued her from Scalathor pirates and that they are here to help us," she said.

  
"How could you possibly know that just by it touching you? That's not possible!" The other guard said.

  
"I do not know, it must have done something to me when it touched me, it felt like I could feel it in my head, but I definitely understood it," the first guard said.

  
"Call your superiors, ambassador Celia has been trying to call down to you from our ship in orbit, we have purged the Scalathor frigates from the orbit of your planet and they have been destroyed, our capital ship the Dreamer is currently in orbit defending your planet from further attack and from reinforcements being called, call your superiors and they will be able to confirm what I am saying, but do it fast as more commandos are on the way and I am needed to help defend this place," Liam said.

  
"What's it saying?" the second guard asked.

  
"It's asking that we call our superiors and that they will confirm what it is saying, it says that they have a capital ship in orbit which has taken out the two Scalathor frigates and is defending the planet," she said.

  
"Stand there, Seeker, or whatever you are called while I confirm what you are saying," the second guard said, and she seeming pulled out a radio and began calling through what he had been saying.

  
"What's happening up there, Seeker one two? We need you back on the line here," Jack's voice came over the comms.

  
He flicked his helmet to private mode and spoke, "Seeker one two to Seeker one one, I've made contact and given one of the guards our language, I've tried to explain to them what is happening, they are calling it through to their superiors, over," Liam said.

  
"Ok, roger that, get it done as fast as you can, I can hear shooting getting closer, I think our Hunter teams have caught up with the commando teams at the rear which means all of them are going to be driving this way and they're probably not going to be very happy with the golden boot jammed up their collective tailhole," Jack said, which made Liam smile.

  
"Roger that, get back to the line as soon as you can Seeker one one, over and out," Jack said, and just then someone else approached the barricade as Liam heard the tell tale sign of fast paced slithering.

  
"You there! Seeker or whatever you're called! You mentioned Celia Diamondscale, is she alive? Please, I have to know!" An aggressive and desperate feminine voice called through the barricade to him.

  
"Yes, she is alive and well, aboard our ship the Dreamer, we rescued her from the cargo hold of an attacked Scalathor trading ship where she was being held prisoner, most likely for ransom," Liam responded.

  
"What did it say!? I cannot understand it!" The desperate and angry sounding female yelled.

  
"It says she is ok, it goes on to say she is aboard their ship, the Dreamer, in orbit and that they rescued her from the cargo hold of a Scalathor transport ship," the guard who had their language in her mind said.

  
"Oh, thank the Great Tree! My pack mate is alive! Oh, thank you, Seeker! Thank you!" The woman who was obviously one of those Celia had told Liam to look out for said.

  
"You're welcome, Celia told me to look out for her pack when I got planetside so once the battle is done I will come and find you and we can speak more, but right now please take shelter inside as deep as you can, let us Guardians and your royal guards do our jobs and protect the civilians, so please go back inside, but if you can find a radio you can speak to Celia, just transmit on a broad spectrum frequency and she should hear you, she's trying to communicate through our ship's comms relay but we don't have your encrypted frequencies," Liam said, and the English speaking guard repeated what he said word for word.

  
"I will! Thank you, Seeker, thank you," she said, and with that she slithered off back into the palace, obviously or rather hopefully to inform her other pack mates that Celia was alive and well.

  
"Ok, I'm going back to our lines now, we will keep the commandos from your doors but just in case make sure this barricade is strong, our soldiers are easily recognizable, Seekers look like me in blue armor, all bipedal, Hunters are the same but dressed in bright golden armor, real easy to miss because they like to hide, Battle Angels are our medics and are real easy to see, they wear bright pink and white armor, you can't miss them, so if anybody inside is hurt let me know now and I'll have them come here to render aid," Liam said with his translator repeating his words.

  
"You have medics with you? Can they treat our species?" One of the guards said quickly.

  
"Seppa, you can not be thinking what I think you're thinking!?" One of the others said.

  
"If they have medics then they could treat the queen's pack mate!" the English speaking guard said.

  
"But we don't even know them, they could be in league with the Scalathor!" one of the other said.

  
"I know you won't take my word for it but we are not, if one of the civilians inside is injured, queen or not, please let us help, we're here to protect and aid you not harm you," Liam said.

  
"We do not need your protection, alien! We can protect ourselves! We are the Royal Guards and we are responsible for protecting the royal pack!" the angry guard spat after the English speaking guard translated what Liam said.

  
"I meant no offence, I merely wished to convey our wish to help is all," Liam said, trying to rush his diplomacy as he knew the Scalathor were getting closer by the second.

  
A high speed argument ensued but logic finally won out, "Your Battle Angels must surrender their weapons when they enter and we will allow them in," the English speaking guard said.

  
Liam nodded, "Very well, but trust me when I say Xenos do not need weapons, you'll understand when you see them," Liam said, then he pressed his comms button.

  
"Seeker one two to Battle Angel team one, we have injured civilians in the Royal palace but they won't allow you in armed so hand off to the nearest Seeker and get your tails up here pronto," Liam said, and he got an instant response as Battle Angel team one had accompanied the Seekers in on their drop and only seconds later four Xenos appeared, surprising the guards inside.

  
"Those are Battle Angels!?" the English speaking guard exclaimed and Liam nodded.

  
"This is Vette, she's in charge of Battle Angel team one, she speaks my language and they all understand yours so I recommend you send your translator with them, I must get back to the lines now, good luck," Liam said, and he turned as he heard the barricade being moved while he jogged back to join his fellow Seekers and as he reached the wall where Jack was waiting he saw his Grand Patriarch nodding approvingly.

  
"Good job, young Seeker, you've done your Clan and your order proud, looks like our Serpentinus ambassador's diplomatic skills are rubbing off on you," Jack said with a smile under his helmet.

  
"Just putting my best foot forward, boss," Liam said, making Jack laugh and suddenly Analise came over the comms.

  
"Seeker two two to all Seeker calls signs, I've spotted the enemy, they are three blocks away and closing, count forty advancing fast, I have eyes on in the form of a bird above them, they are closing from three sides, our Hunters are being slowed up by their rear guard and the vanguard will be reaching us any moment, over," she said.

  
Liam instantly knew what she was doing, it was a Tamer ability called Sense Sharing, a Tamer could literally overwhelm a lesser creature's mind and control them like a puppet, seeing through their eyes, hearing through their ears, tasting with their tongue, ect, it was a fascinating ability and Analise was a bloody joker when it came to using it, Liam had lost count of the amount of tap dancing spiders he'd found in his bed, but he did have to admit that he was impressed by the one she made do ballet, though she stopped when he got his own back when he summoned a literal Barber shop quartet to sing her a lullaby in her bed, he could still hear her screaming echoing in his mind, no more dancing spiders after that.

  
"Seekers, stand too! This is it! Not one of these bastards is getting past us!" Jack yelled, and everybody primed their weapons and moments later when the commandos appeared fighting a running battle with Serpentinus soldiers who were scattered throughout their route the Seekers unleashed hell on them.

  
It was like the broadside of a capital ship firing in space, every single Seeker picked two targets for their plasma casters and upon Jack's command all fired at once, a volley of super heated plasma ripped through the air, leaving trailing blue streaks like smoke right back to their shooters as without fail every shot found its mark, taking sixteen Scalathor commandos down before they even knew what happened, the others scattered, taking cover in alleyways and buildings to return fire on their opponents, to his left there was a roar and Liam glanced to see Analise jumping onto Zed's back and riding the massive fire tiger into the fray like a glorious and demented warrior queen, running right after her was Ryan, using a mixture of his Yautja agility and Dream Warrior strength to leap from the raised platform up onto a roof top before dropping down into the alleyway below.

  
Not to be outdone, Jack literally popped three Scalathor at long range with precision shots, making their heads just pop like a grape hit with a fifty cal before drawing his sword and charging the closest ones, Liam followed suit, stitching three more Scalathor in a building before jumping forward and using his incredible speed to his advantage, slowing the world around him down to a crawl as he ran up and kicked a Scalathor right through a sandstone wall, taking out her comrade hiding behind it, sensing trouble he jumped from a standing jump backwards, arcing through the air over the top of two more appearing out of a house behind him, as he sored he pulled his wrist blades out and grabbed the closest Scalathor's head and spun three hundred and sixty degrees before landing and throwing the severed head he was now holding which was still in its helmet right into the face of her comrade like a baseball.

  
A roar to his left made him turn and Liam saw Rem had two of them by the tails and was swinging them like she was holding two hammers and was spinning on the spot like a proppellar before both their tails tore off, sending their owners rocketing into two separate walls head first, she then, in true Yautja fashion, proceeded to beat the next unlucky Scalathor to emerge from the house with the armored bloody tails like she was swinging a pair of fleshy clubs, you had to give the Yautja points when it came to being inventive in killing people.

  
There was still a lot of shooting going on, primarily from the now panicked Scalathor, it was obvious that they had absolutely no clue what in the name of fuck they were fighting, to them it must have been like trying to hit armored ghosts, Seekers moving so fast that if you blinked you'd miss them, one second on your left the next on your right holding your friend's freshly severed head trying to beat you to death with said head.

  
Their numbers shrank in seconds, the survivors tried to run but they didn't get far, running straight into another forty or so Scalathor literally running full tilt towards them and it didn't take long to see why they were sprinting as a loud series of roars echoed down the wide streets and flashes of gold began to appear on both the roof tops and the streets, the Hunters had arrived.

  
The Hunters of Clan Mason were experts in urban combat, having the best of both Human special forces training and Yautja hunting training, the Hunters on the ground were moving in two ranks, the Hunters at the front row holding wrist mounted energy riot shields, directly behind them was a second row of Hunters and they were moving in symmetry, both using the shield for protection, their plasma casters were extended high on their gimbals and were firing over the top of their shields as were those of the Hunter behind them, but it got even better than that, there were also Hunters legging it along the rooftops on either side of the street shooting down into the fleeing Scalathor, corralling and herding them directly into their comrades and towards the regrouping and waiting Seekers, in short, they were royally fucked.

  
Utter hell broke loose as with a mighty battle roar triggered by Jack Mason himself and picked up by every single Seeker they charged the trapped Scalathor, swords and wrist blades flashed in the unrelenting sun, screams and yells pierced the air as did arcs of blood flashing in the sunlight as it flew before painting the walls and tiles of the roads, as Liam kicked off a wall into an airborne rotational arc to shoot downwards into a small group with both is casters and his rifle he saw Analise plow right through a group with Zed sending them skittering like bowling pins, their shots bouncing off his heavy armor and shielding, the huge tiger rearing up and his enhanced claws cutting through their armor like paper, leaving huge ugly gouges in their wake, given that Zed had six legs he could do a lot of damage with a single set of swipes with his front four in one single move.

  
Analise leapt from his back, vaulting over the group and landing behind them, firing not only down into them but into their backs as she landed, switching seamlessly to her wrist blades and executing a series of high speed stabs, then with the snap of fingers all of them fell as one to the ground.

  
This was the first time that either of them had ever taken a sentient life, sure, both of them had killed while hunting before, there were few alive on Clan Mason's homeworld who had not killed during a hunt, in part it was a Yautja world so it was a way of life and every one of them were taught the way and rules of the hunt from birth and every life taken was held in the highest regard to pay homage to Paya herself, honor life and honor death, this was the way of the hunt.

  
But this felt different, maybe it was because he was a Soul Knight but Liam could feel the fear in the air, it was like an electric current traveling along his spine and prickling his skin under his armor, one of the more impressive and unusual abilities that a Soul Knight possessed was the Harvest of Souls, it worked by turning the souls of the recently fallen into a kind of psychic fuel, it didn't rob the soul of the fallen of their rightful place in the afterlife, whichever place they had earned with their respective deity, it simply used up all the energy that they had avalible and transfered it directly to the Soul Knight, turning them into a kind of super charged berserker, Soul Knights only ever used it on the souls of their enemy's so that Nightmare Assassins could not use it to fuel their own abilities, but boy did it give the Soul Knight a kick in the arse.

  
Liam didn't know if it was the competitiveness that had always existed between the two but upon seeing Analise unleashing death with such amazing grace upon their enemies Liam felt a surge to do better, to do his leader and Clan Patriarch proud as Analise was obviously doing for Ryan, Liam took his sword that Jack had forged for him when he'd taken the position of second in command of the Soul Knights and he had told him then that the sword was special as it symbolized the two halves of a Soul Knight, on one hand the living and the other the dead, at the time he hadn't known what he meant but now as he triggered a Harvest of Souls, plunging it into the ground at his feet he understood perfectly because as he began to draw the swirling sparkling blue energy towards him like electric smoke he saw the rune that Jack had engraved into the blade begin to glow and a line of raw energy flowed down the centre of the blade like glowing water and it split in two.

  
On one blade it read, 'I honor the road of life,' on the other it read, 'I honor the vastness of death,' as he drew them both from the ground it was like he suddenly had three shadows behind him and as he moved it was like he had a visual echo and he moved so fast that time itself seemed to have stopped, he cut down six of them before the first one even had chance to turn towards him, now, the thing about the Harvest of Souls is that every single life taken while it's active simply adds more fuel to the already burning fire, before he knew it was even happening Liam had cut right through the ranks and emerged right in front of the advancing Hunters as time seemed to realign and he felt the urge to lift his hand and snap his fingers, so he did and behind him half of the enemy fell dead to the floor, leaving all of them staring at him in shock and awe, for them too this was the first time seeing a Seeker in true combat mode and not training.

  
Not a single Scalathor survived the encounter, even though they'd panicked and tried to run when they realized they were trapped they had stood and fought to the last woman, not a single one survived, even as the roar of victory went up from both Hunters and Seekers alike Jack Mason stood and he paid silent homage to warriors fallen, he bowed his head in prayer to Paya for their victory and Liam and Ryan joined him, the Scalathor had been strong opponents but against Dream Warriors and the extremely well equiped and trained Hunters they were no match, every single warrior in Clan Mason's troops was special forces, trained and armed to the teeth with next level equipment.

  
The bodies of the invaders were littered everywhere and only now Liam actually noticed the Serpentinus soldiers that had been fighting alongside them, he truly coldn't believe that he hadn't noticed that such big girls had been all but invisible during the fight but given the amount of gore and scorching their armor supported they had royally gotten stuck in as well, at first they seemed perplexed by the cheering aliens around them but then they just joined in and began cheering and hugging one another as they realized that they'd won the day thanks to their new strange friends.

  
"This is Seeker one one to Dreamer, all enemy contacts are neutralized, do you have any others on the scope?" Jack said.

  
"Negative, my love, scope is clear, we're not picking up any further Scalathor life signs, but we will continue to sweep, let us know how things are going, we will continue to monitor from up here, we're going to transport the Ambassador down so she can help do the introductions to her people, she should be with you soon and once the fleet is here I'll come down and join you myself, my love, so we can celebrate this victory together, this was the first blow struck by our Guardians in the name of justice and it was a powerful one," Tik eleth said.

  
"The first of many, my love, the first of many, I'll see you soon, Seeker one one out," Jack said, then he clicked his comms button again, "Seeker one one to all ground call signs, I want this place secured and searched, I want all casualties reported and all battle Angels on station to administer aid to any who need it, hell, go door to door if you have to, we help any who need it and that includes wounded combatants, we are not executioners or merciless, if any are left alive they are to be disarmed, treated and taken into custody to be transfered over to the Serpentinus authorities, after that it is up to them what they do, spread out, people, and best faces on, it's hearts and minds time, I want these people to see the Guardian Core as Guardians of innocent life as well as the avengers of innocent blood, so gentle words and gentle hands, people, these people haven't met us, they don't know us and they, other than this fight, have no reason to trust us, so give them one, understood?" Jack said, and as one every single Guardian saluted and chorused, "Yes, Grand Patriarch!" before scattering and beginning the search.

  
The Seekers had a definite advantage at this as their senses let them home in on fear and pain and Liam personally led their Battle Angels right to the doors that hid terrified and injured civilians, as soon as they were found the Angels got straight to work setting up their tools and treating the wounded, Jack had also set up a field hospital near the entrance to the palace where their pods landed, so walking wounded or slithering wounded who had made the trip out could seek help there as well as at their own hospitals, fortunately civilian casualties were light, soldiers on the other hand, not so much.

  
The Serpentinus had fought valiantly but they were unprepared for such a thing, for such bloodshed to be dropped right into the very heart of their beautiful capital city as if by a tornado, the Scalathor commandos, although no match for the Guardian Core, had been more than a match for the Serpentinus soldiers and they had been overwhelmed by a vastly smaller force, showing the power of training and superior equipment, much like the Dreamer had managed to see off two heavily armed frigates without a single scratch because of her superior defences and guns.

  
Liam was stood in front of the palace when the shuttle carrying Celia came down to land in front of the hospital they'd set up and currently had Battle Angels scurrying around treating wounded in it, she slithered down the tail ramp guarded by four of Sela eleth's Saviors acting as body guards.

  
Liam could clearly see the look of pain and horror on her face as she saw her wounded kin in the care of the Battle Angels as well as all the damage done to the great palace with chunks blown out of the masonry by plasma fire and the scorch marks everywhere, Liam had already confirmed with another of the Royal guards that now spoke their language thanks to a surprising handshake that her pack was safe and sound within the walls of the palace, suddenly a hand clapped him on the shoulder and he turned to see Jack Mason standing next to him, he swore he was part ghost by the way he seemed to just materialise out of thin air like that.

  
"Time to put your best foot forward again, Liam, I think we could use our own ambassador to deal with these fine people and seeing as you officially have more experience with them than any of us, you're it," he said, and he patted his shoulder and before Liam could say a word he vanished again, reappearing a short distance away in the hospital and in a display that made Jack Mason Jack Mason instantly got stuck in along side the Battle Angels tending to the wounded, by Paya you had to love the man, no job was too big or small or too dirty for him, he embodied the spirit of the Guardian Core, proud warrior but gentle and humble man, he was both a sword and a shield for the innocent and defenceless and as Liam watched him comforting a scared Serpentinus girl while a Battle Angel treated her wounds.

  
Liam turned and saw Celia speaking to one of the Seekers who was stood near the statues and he saw the Seeker that turned out to be Rem and saw her point right at him, Celia turned her gaze and slithered right for him, "Hello, Ambassador, it's good to see you again," Liam said as she slithered right up to him she stopped short and her head seemed to dance about as she swayed, her tongue flickering as if trying to taste the air around him but his scent was sealed inside his armor and his helmet was still sealed.

  
"Liam! I am so glad you are unharmed, I watched the fighting on the monitors on the bridge of your Dreamer, your Grand Matriarch was kind enough to let me see the feeds from your helmet cameras, I have never seen anything like it in my life, the fighting was horrific but your soldiers are so very brave! You all fought so bravely for us, I am humbled by it," she said, and Liam felt embarrassed by her praise.

  
"Umm, thank you, Ambassador, I am told your pack is unharmed and in good health, they are waiting for you in the palace, I can take you to them now if you wish," he said, deflecting her praise and instantly her face brightened.

  
"Truly!? My pack is unharmed!?" She exclaimed happily, and Liam nodded, out of nowhere she rushed forwards and like he weighted absolutely nothing she lifted him off his feet in a hug that if it wasn't for his armor might have put his ribcage in real peril.

  
"You kept your word to me, thank you, Liam, thank you so much," she said softly before placing him back on his feet and looking a little flustered as if her outburst of emotion and joy had shamed her.

  
"M-M-My apologies, Seeker, I-I-I did not mean to do that, I was just so worried about my beloved pack sisters," she said, trying to put her pride and dignity back in place.

  
"It's quite alright, Ambassador, quite understandable when fearing for your family, in all honesty, it was not me but your very own royal guards, they sealed them and your royal pack up in the palace and prevented any Scalathor from getting to them, they are the ones deserving of your thanks," he said, and she nodded in partial agreement.

  
"But if it was not for the intervention of your Guardian Core, of your brave Seekers and Hunters fighting in these very streets for a people they owe nothing to or even know at all then I cannot even bare to think what their fate would have been, but I saw on those monitors what you and your Seekers did, you stood as a bastion against their cowardly attack, just eight against eighty, I was worried and feared deeply when I saw what you were to do but your Grand Matriarch told me not to fear, that I had not seen what a Dream Warrior could do when unleashed, each of you fought like nothing I had ever seen or even believed possible, it seemed that you are a male of a great many secrets and talents, Liam Silver," she said, and Liam smiled, rubbing the back of his helmet, embarrassed by her praise.

  
"Umm, I don't know about that, Ambassador, I'm just glad we were able to help, it's what I became a Seeker for, to defend my Clan and to protect the innocent, whoever they are and wherever they may be, now, come, let's not waste any time, your pack mates are most anxious to see your safe return," he said and she nodded as he gestured her to lead on and she slithered past him with him falling in step behind her as she headed for the palace entrance which was still sealed and held by the royal guards.

  
other than the Battle Angels who had gone in to treat the wounded member of the royal pack no one had entered or exited the place, Celia slithered up to the barricade and declared herself to the guards and they opened the barricade, as Liam entered at her side he was stopped by the guards, "He is with me, he is a warrior of the people who just saved and defended us, a Seeker of Truth," Celia said angrily as she saw the guard fingering their weapons suspiciously.

  
"Yes, ambassador, we know, he is also some sort of magician that can put languages in people's heads against their will," the guard in front of him, a rather regal and pretty example of her race, and unlike Celia she sort of reminded Liam of a picture of yet another Earth species of snake, a cobra.

  
She had sand coloured scales decorated with flashes of blue and red, she seemed to have a retractable hood at the rear of her head which now fanned out as she fixed her bright yellow eyes on Liam, she wore green and blue armor that covered her top half, looking like it was made from tough cloth and a form of leather plated with a rather pretty metal at the chest and hips, she carried a rather mean looking plasma rifle which Liam knew was basically a pea shooter to his armor.

  
"Yes, he can do that, but that it is simply their way of helping to make themselves understood, he is an ambassador to his people who stand outside this very palace defending it, are you to be responsible for these Guardians who protected our people at great risk to their own from meeting with the Royal pack?" Celia said angrily and rearing right up to show off her superior size, the smaller cobra like woman's hood seemed to fan before retracting and she seemed embarrassed under the glower and hard stare of the large python like Ambassador who planted her hands on her wide hips as she swayed back and forth and flickered her tongue at her.

  
"No, Ambassador Diamondscale, he may enter but it is protocol that I must ask him to leave any and all weapons here," the guard said, and Celia cocked her head.

  
"If he meant us any harm do you honestly believe that you or I or any of us could stop him having seen that fight outside?" Celia asked angrily, and now the guard looked lost so Liam decided to intercede.

  
"It's quite alright, Ambassador, for the sake of diplomacy I will happily surrender my weapons," he said, and Celia shot him a look which actually seemed upset, as if he was somehow circumventing her authority.

  
"No, you will not have a proud warrior who risked his own life for us rendered toothless, it will serve as proof of your intentions towards us, armed and proud as you should be," Celia said, the anger obvious in her voice, the pack of guards seemed surprised by her words but one really seemed to catch them off guard.

  
"Forgive me, Ambassador, but did you just say, 'He?'" the guard asked, and she nodded.

  
"Yes, Seeker Silver here is a male," Celia said, as if this little fact might break their stalemate and to Liam's utter surprise, it did.

  
"A male soldier on the front lines? Extraordinary!" The guard said, and instantly she and her three companions moved in closer to Liam, seemingly trying to see him inside his armor, Liam felt like he was about to be coiled from four sides at once as each of them leaned in and tried to see him properly through his visor.

  
"Exactly, now, if you don't mind, I am quite eager to see my pack and to meet with the Royal pack, we have much to do! And our honored guest here will be instrumental," Celia said, the guards waved her through but before they let him go each of them asked him to do that little trick that let them understand his language, so he did, giving each of them a language pack of sorts, English, Yautja and Xeno all at once.

  
Straight after that Celia led him deeper into the palace which looked like a cross between a great home and a cathedral, huge sweeping arches and beautiful artworks decorating everywhere he looked, there were royal guards looking at them as he strode at Celia's side, the guards were a variety of sub species of Serpentinus, more like Celia and the Cobra-like guard, but there were just so many, some had little horned scales and wide eyes, others had beautiful bright scale patterns in vivid blues and reds, there were just so many different types.

  
Finally after winding their way through a series of up hill ramps that lead them into the upper parts of the palace Celia led them into a large room where three female Serpentinus looked on worriedly as Battle Angels worked on one who was laid in a bed, next to them were another three who were packed close together, that was until they saw Celia and instantly they slithered right at her before diving on her and winding themselves together in what was a very Serpentinus version of a hug.

  
"Celia! You're alive! Oh, thank the Great Tree!" the three of them cried one after the other in three rather interesting voices.

  
"It is good to see you all again, I so feared that I wouldn't survive to see my beloved pack again, but here I am, alive and unharmed thanks to the efforts of my new friend here," Celia said, unwinding from them before indicating Liam, the three of them slithered to Liam and closed in on him, giving him a sudden rush of potential claustrophobia.

  
"You are the one I spoke to at the gates, the one who promised me that our Celia was unhurt and would be returned to us, you kept your word and for this you have my deepest thanks," one who looked to be of the cobra genus like the gate guard said, she seemed to have a lab coat on and little round glasses perched on her pointed snout which actually made her look rather cute, her scales were bright sandy gold with flecks of gold and white, next to her the other two couldn't be more different if they tried, one was smaller than the other three, skinnier and faster in her movements, her scales were bright green and her eyes matched, she held a book clasped in her hands along with a PDA of some kind, the other had an Asp-like triangular leaf shaped head and sharp looking red eyes.

  
"Words cannot express our gratitude to you for bringing our Celia back to us, you have our deepest thanks, may we know your name, lady warrior?" the cobra-like one asked.

  
"She is in fact a he and while he can understand us you will not understand him, not unless he gifts you his language," Celia said, and at once all three locked their eyes on her in surprise.

  
"A male soldier!? Extraordinary!" The Asp-like woman said and she moved so fast, shooting right up to Liam that even with his speed she surprised him as she tried to look through his visor, Liam decided to show off his own speed and like a gunshot his hand shot up and touched her head and before she could recoil in surprise he gave her the language pack.

  
"Can you understand me?" He said, and her face went slack in surprise.

  
"T-T-Thats not possible! H-H-He's an empath!" she exclaimed, looking from him to Celia who was smiling and nodding.

  
"I though that would get your attention, Veme, it's quite a trick isn't it?" Celia said.

  
"I'll say! Oh, you must let me study him! You simply must!" Veme said, darting in and jinking back and forth as if taking mental notes.

  
"That will be up to him, Veme, he is a sentient being, not a lab rat," Celia said with a soft chuckle and Veme looked chastised.

  
"O-O-Of course, m-m-my apologies, noble warrior, I meant no offence," Veme said, and Liam chuckled, instantly making her shoot forward to study him again.

  
"Err, none taken," he said as the Asp-like female jinked about, her eyes darting about.

  
"Err, any chance we can get that trick, I'd quite like to get in on this conversation," the cobra like woman said, and her little green companion nodded in agreement and Liam stepped up and touched them both in turn.

  
But now before another conversation could start the three very regal looking Serpentinus slithered up to them, one wearing a very blatantly royal robe around her shoulders and supporting armor on her torso, she was the same genus as Celia, a python, just a bigger type by the size of her, she was huge.

  
"Celia, please introduce this newcomer into the royal court and explain their presence here if you will," the royal Serpentinus said in a low cut glass voice.

  
"Of course, my lady, my apologies, may I introduce to you and the royal pack, Seeker of Truth Liam Silver Mason of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, it is they that defended us this day and they who drove the Scalathor invaders from our soil and skies," Celia said with a bow.

  
The regal female turned her attention to Liam and slithered up close leaning down, "Can they understand us?" She asked.

  
"He can, my lady," Celia said, and again there was that surprised look at the mention of his gender.

  
"Can you breathe out air, Seeker Liam?" the regal Serpentinus asked.

  
"He can give you his language, my lady, if you allow him to touch your head, his species are quite extraodinary in their gifts of the Great Tree," Celia said, and the regal Serpent nodded, Liam stepped up, making all the Royal guards in the room twitch nervously, he placed a hand to her face and in a flash it was done.

  
"In answer to your question, your highness, I can breathe your air, yes," Liam said, and she looked utterly amazed.

  
"Extraodinary! I understand him! And wait! I now understand these Battle Angels they sent to save and tend my sister as well!" she exclaimed, turning and looking at the four Battle Angels who were hovering over the bed discussing her wounded sister, she clapped her hands in obvious delight.

  
"Amazing, simply amazing!" She said, and Liam smiled, pressing the release on his helmet, making it pack away and every set of eyes locked on to him in utter fascination, especially among Celia's pack, Celia simply seemed to have a rather odd smug look, like she'd brought home some sort of treasure for them to all marvel at.

  
"I thank you for the welcome, my lady, and I thank you for the trust that enabled me to give you our language, we will need it as we have a great much to discuss regarding the events outside," Liam said, and the regal serpent instantly went business like and nodded.

  
"Indeed, Celia, get the conference room ready, we will do this at once, Seeker Liam, please place a call to your superiors and ask them to join us if you will, I'll send word for our guard to allow them in, now, please, come, we have much to discuss," she said, and with that Liam found himself surrounded by scales on all sides as all the Serpentinus females slithered from the room, taking him along with them being steered by the shoulders by Celia, when suddenly a very soft voice whispered in his ear.

  
"Don't think I have forgotten your other word to me either, and now I know for sure you are good for it," it said, and Liam's heart sank as he turned and saw Celia smiling at him brightly.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Relief Efforts.

The conference room was spacious and very regal, a huge oval shaped wooden table took up the centre of of the room, it was surrounded by large plush cushions like the type that one would kneel on, only much larger and softer looking, Liam guessed that when you didn't have legs or feet chairs really weren't a thing. 

Before the meeting started he had equipped everyone there with the language pack that would allow them to understand each other to make sure this went smoothly.

"Ummm, somebody fetch the chairs we use for when the Scalathor are here," the regent said to one of the royal guards who saluted and slithered away quickly.

She glanced at Liam apologetically, "My apologies. Seeker Liam, my species don't exactly have much use for chairs really and we weren't exactly expecting guests so we have nothing prepared," the regent said apologetically as only moments later guards came slithering in carrying large wooden arm chairs with very soft looking padding, it was obvious the Serpentinus took their diplomacy very seriously.

"It's quite alright, my lady, perfectably understandable, it wasn't like we exactly expected to be orbital dropping onto an alien planet to fight alongside a species we only just met against an enemy we've never met until we crossed swords with them, metaphorically speaking of course," Liam said, making the regent smile and her long tongue flickered a few times in his direction.

"My guards inform me you're rather handy with a sword," the regent said, and Liam chuckled, nodding.

"Seeker training is rather varied, my lady, we're trained in a great many ways of combat in order to adapt to changing circumstances on the ground, it's the same with our Hunters and even our Battle Angels and Saviors, we in the Guardian Core take our role very seriously," Liam said with a smile and a nod of thanks at the cobra-like guard who brought him a chair.

Just before he sat, Jack Mason and Ryan Mason strode in along with the guards assigned to escort them, "Sorry to interrupt, my lady and members of the royal pack, but this is Jack Mason, Grand Patriarch of Clan Mason and Leader of the Seekers of Truth, and his son, Ryan Mason, also of the Seekers of Truth," the guard said, announcing them.

"Thank you, Ezzra, that will be all," the regent said, and the guard saluted and slithered off as Jack and Ryan strode in, both looking every bit the regal statesmen and accomplished warriors they both were, it often made Liam a little jealous of how easy they both made it look, they were both seamless as they strode up to the regent and offered human greetings of a handshake which Celia informed the regent was a human greeting.

"It is very good to meet you both, I'm sorry I'm not familiar with the titles you hold, do you prefer to be called Grand Patriarch or by your name?" The regent asked, and her face betrayed her surprise at again them both being male, Liam realized he was learning to read their facial expressions as well, both their eyes and surprisingly their tongues were rather expressive.

"Just Jack is fine, regent, and what about yourself, do you prefer regent, my lady, or your name?" Jack asked, taking the seat that the regent gestured to him with Ryan seated next to him while Liam was seated opposite them both, he seemed to have been seated next to Celia and her entire pack who seemed to be utterly fascinated by their guests, though more predominantly by Liam than the two newcomers if he was reading the flickering tongues and glances he was getting correctly.

"You may call me Ciri, my name is Ciri Flushscale and it only feels right to be on first name basis with someone who is responsible for protecting my home and my people like you have, an act I and we cannot begin to thank you enough for," the regent said softly, and Jack being Jack just smiled.

"You're more than welcome, Ciri, that's what we formed the Guardian Core for, to protect not only our people and way of life but to protect all innocents, wherever and whoever they may be, speaking of which, if I may, I'd like to get my wife in on this meeting, I'm afraid she can't be with us in person right now as she's aboard our flagship, the Dreamer, heading up our relief efforts, but I have with me a holosphere which will allow her to attend, so, if I may?" Jack said, and Ciri and all of the Serpentinus looked both intrigued and supremely curious.

"A holosphere?" Ciri asked curiously, and Jack produced a small silver sphere from one of his pouches and set it on the table, Liam had seen these devices when Citrus and Yoshi's hive had started producing them, all their ships and major buildings had holograph projectors and communication rigs, these was a portable version of them that used a combination of sensors and smart cameras to see their entire environment and to pick out people to be projected into a holo communicator room while projecting an image of the person or people in the room back through the orb.

"It's a communication device that lets you see who you are talking to, that's all, it's harmless, I assure you," Jack said, and Ciri nodded and gestured to the device curiously but obviously prompting him to continue.

Jack pressed a button on the top of the orb and it rolled into the centre of the table, making all of the Serpentinus jump and a flurry of tongues were aimed at it, Jack tapped a few buttons on his wrist comp, "Seeker one to Hunter one, you online for holo comms, my love?" Jack asked across the Seekers private comms channel.

"Ready when you are, my heart's star," Tik's gravely voice replied, and Jack nodded, pressing a few more buttons and the orb popped open like petals on a flower, there were eight petals and at the tip of each one a needle like emmiter began to glow, a moment later in the centre of the orb was a perfect image of a miniature Tik eleth Mason in her bright golden Hunter armor, looking every bit the proud huntress and Clan Matriarch that she was.

"Greetings, my name is Tik eleth Mason, Grand Matriarch of Clan Mason and leader of the Hunters of the Guardian Core," Tik said, turning in a circle to see and greet everyone in the room before turning to face the head of the table where Ciri was sat on her coils.

Ciri's tongue was going ninety to the dozen as she looked at the small device with a miniature Tik eleth Mason stood in the centre of it, "Greetings, Grand Matriarch Tik eleth Mason, I am Ciri Flushscale, regent of the Serpentinus and leader of the Royal Pack," Ciri said, and Tik eleth saluted.

"It is good to make your acquaintance, Regent, I wish it could have been under better circumstances," Tik said.

"As do I, I must ask this but I find it incredible that your male is here among us while you are aboard your ship, forgive my ignorance of your people or culture but to us to send males to fight is utterly unheard of," Ciri said, glancing from Jack to Ryan and then to Liam.

Tik growled softly but she was in diplomatic mode and Liam had heard the stories of how long it had taken Jack to teach her the art of diplomacy, given that Tik eleth's usual version of diplomacy involved wedging a rather sizable golden boot up the arse of the person who insulted her before tearing off their head and spending the next three days polishing said skull to a mirror shine.

"In our culture and among our people males and females are equals in all things, Regent, our birth rates included, there are as many males born as females and yes, while we do have our differences, for example, the females of my kind, the Yautja, are bigger than our males, we treat them as our equals because they are, a point proven by the fact that while as much as I would love to have been on the ground to drive those cowardly invaders from your home myself, my beloved husband and my son are there, while I am here preparing for the arrival of the reinforcements we have detected approaching," Tik said, and Ciri's face froze upon hearing this.

"I'm sorry, Grand Matriarch, I meant no offence, I am merely trying to understand your people, but forgive me, did you just say that there are reinforcements approaching our planet?" Ciri asked, and Tik nodded.

"Yes, we've picked up three frigates on approach but do not fear, regent, Guardian Core reinforcements are already arriving and are forming a defensive perimeter around the planet and its orbital stations, we have deployed both our Savior engineering teams and Battle Angel medical teams to these stations in order to see if we can not only assist your wounded people but in order to try and get your planetary defences back online, that way when the Scalathor arrive this time it will be they who arrive into an ambush," Tik said.

"Three frigates!? Can your Dreamer hold out against that kind of firepower?" Ciri asked.

"The Dreamer is top of the line, she may be classified as a heavy frigate but she's more of a pocket battle ship, seriously heavy guns mounted into a much more maneuverable frame, but the rest of our fleet are already arriving so she will have support and all of our ships are outfitted to punch well above their weight when it comes to space combat," Jack said reassuringly.

"Not to mention there will be more Hunter teams aboard, capable of boarding and taking those ships if the chance presents itself," Tik added proudly.

Ciri's brow furrowed and she nodded, "I am most grateful for your assistance in this, Grand Matriarch" she said, and Tik nodded.

"Please, call me Tik eleth, regent," she said, and Ciri nodded and smiled, flickering her tongue thoughtfully.

"I must ask this, and again, please forgive me if I misunderstand, but how much is your assistance going to cost my people?" Ciri asked, and Tik growled, obviously taking offence, but it was Jack who spoke.

"We didn't come here to negotiate terms for a price for our assistance, Ciri, the help of the Guardian Core will not cost you a thing, we do not do this because it benefits us, we do it because it is the right thing to do, we have seen what the Scalathor are capable of first hand aboard the ship we rescued your diplomat Ms. Diamondscale from, we also rescued a male Draconis who was being held as a slave and I have seen what they have done to that boy and I will be dammed if I allow that kind of practice to continue as well as be inflicted on an innocent people, we are not in a position to dictate what a people does to its own really, but when it is perpetrated against others then we will not stand by and watch, the creed of the Guardian Core is long but the brunt of it is this, we stand for those who cannot stand for themselves, we protect the innocent, whoever they may be and wherever that may be for we are the Guardians and we will stand proud and true," Jack said, pride dripping from his voice like honey.

This set Ryan off, "I am a Guardian, I swear to seek out evil wherever it may hide, in the shadows of the night you will find me, in the deepest cave you find me......" he began, and instantly feeling his pride welling, Liam joined in.

"In the deepest ocean or the brightest sky you will find me, for evil will not hide from me, I am a Guardian and this is my oath and my vow, those who harm the innocent will face my wrath, those who spill innocent blood will face my wrath, those who would harm those who cannot defend themselves will face my wrath, I will seek them out because I am a Seeker........" Liam said, and instantly Tik showed her pride by joining in.

"I will hunt them down because I am a Hunter, I will save the innocent because I am a Savior and I will nurse the sick and the wounded because I am an Angel, I am a sword and a shield, but above all else I am a Guardian and I will hold the line and I will guard it with my life and my soul, this I swear before all the gods who hear it, this is my promise, vow and oath, from this day until the day I draw my final breath, I am a Guardian of the light and darkness shall not pass," all of them said in perfect unison.

All of the Serpentinus looked utterly amazed at this display of pride and honor for both their clan and their calling, "So you see, Ciri, in not one place does the oath of the Guardian Core mention requesting financial reposition for our help, we do what we do because it is the right thing to do, your people were in need so we helped you, it's as simple as that, if we were after something it would be for you to become our friends and allies and really that's it," Jack said to the obviously stunned regent.

"I-I find myself humbled by this, Grand Matriarch and Patriarch, forgive my words, I meant no offence, it is not my experience of people doing things like this for others without expecting some form of compensation, it truly humbles me," she said, and Jack smiled, as did Tik.

"It's perfectly fine, Ciri, I'm human and for the most part my parent species are very money and influence hungry so I know that feeling well," he said.

"As do I, there is few Yautja clans who would lend aid to another unless it benefits them in some way, either through influence, power or even scooping up prized genetic stock if a clan is going to collapse from their hunters and huntresses," Tik said.

"If I may be so bold, you are the first peoples we have met from outside of the branches of the Great Tree, once any ensuing battle is over I would like your permission for our scientists and scholars to study your peoples to get to know you better, in the mean time you will be our honored guests here," Ciri said, and Jack nodded.

"Our Battle Angels can send you any relevant medical data you need for your scientists to study, it is only fair as we have had a chance to examine one of your people in the form of Ms. Dimondscale while she was with us, though I would ask that you refrain from any invasive medical checks or procedures on any of my people, especially the Xenos, their blood is highly acidic and will dissolve any item that pierces their hides, all our checks for illness or injuries performed on Celia were with her consent and non-invasive in the form of scans and visual checks," Jack said, and Celia nodded to confirm his words.

Ciri nodded and raised her hands, "I would never authorize any form of procedures that would either harm or be considered invasive against your people and certainly nothing without their consent," she said, making both Jack and Tik nod.

"Good, I am glad to hear it," Jack said.

"We will also arrange quarters for your people on the ground to stay comfortable while you are here with us," Ciri said.

"Seeker Liam Silver can reside with my pack," Celia said very quickly, making everyone, including her packmates, turn to her in curiosity while she looked slightly embarrassed by her outburst.

"Very well, it seems that Seeker Silver has a place to stay, as for the rest of you, we will of course arrange quarters along with food and drink," Ciri said, and Jack nodded and smiled most gratefully.

"That is very much appreciated, Ciri, thank you," he said, and now it was her turn to smile.

"It is the least we can do after what you have done and are currently doing for us," she said.

"Don't worry, Ciri, the Guardian Core will stand for you, though it might be worth getting any other allies you have involved here or at least giving them a heads up of what's happened," Jack said, and Ciri nodded.

"Our only true allies are the Raptorians and we will contact them at once to warn them as well as to inform them of your existence and status as our allies," she said.

"When this is all over I would like to cordially invite you and your people to visit our world as our honored guests to see how we live, it is my hope that out of this mess that we might forge a lasting and strong alliance and even friendship," Tik said, making Ciri flick her tongue and smile.

"I would very much like that, Tik eleth, it would be wonderful to learn about your people and your way of life," she said, and there were smiles all around now.

The rest of the talks and negotiations were simply a matter of discussing how the Guardian Core would help the Serpentinus people to repel the invaders and how once they had helped them to rearm themselves and protect themselves from further attack by upgrading their defences they would depart, though there was talk of establishing an embassy on both worlds if things went well.

After all parties were in agreement the talks closed and there were hand shakes all around, "I'm going to speak with both our Battle Angels and Sela eleth to see what the status is on both the wounded and repairs," Jack said to both Liam and Ryan who nodded in unison.

"I will touch base with Shena and make sure our Hunters are all squared away as well as our Seekers," Ryan said, and Jack nodded.

"Good, make sure the palace is guarded, I want a Seeker awake and on station along with a team of Hunters at all times until we know the threat is passed, if by some miracle any drop ships sneak their way down past the Dreamer's sensors we'll spot them first," Jack said, and Ryan nodded.

"What about me, boss?' Liam asked, and Jack smiled at him.

"I want you to remain with our friendly diplomat over there, you just became the body guard of both her pack and the Royal pack, if shit hits the fan you are our last line of defence, nothing and no one gets through you, understood?" Jack said, and Liam glanced over to see Celia talking with her pack, one after the other they were glancing at him.

"Understood, boss," he said, and Jack clapped him on the shoulder strong enough to jostle his armor and shot him a bright grin.

"Show these people what Seekers are made of, alright?" Jack said cryptically, and before before he could ask him what he meant by that the Grand Patriarch was gone, along with Ryan, who just shot him a sly smile before he vanished, leaving Liam standing alone in a hall filled with Serpentinus.

Celia and her pack slithered up to him, enclosing him on all sides, their tails forming a circle around him with each of their bodies forming the points on a compass, "So, you're to stay here with us?" Celia asked, her voice sounding hopeful, and Liam nodded.

"Yeah, I am to act as both bodyguard and diplomat to both your pack and the royal pack, to make sure that both are safe and if you need anything from the Guardian Core to facilitate communication between our people," Liam said, and Celia nodded approvingly.

"This gladdens me," she said, and Liam suddenly noticed that Veme was rather close to him, bobbing her head around as if in an attempt to see him from multiple angles at once, she also seemed to be taking notes.

"Sorry, I was just observing you, I would very much like to get a chance to study your species, like for instance this tuft of fur on your head, does it serve a purpose or is it purely decorative?" she asked while reaching out to touch his head, making Liam dodge the uninvited hair ruffling attempt.

Celia hissed at her pack sister and moved in between the two, tightening her coil circumference around Liam a bit but still not touching him, Veme looked at her in surprise, "Do not touch what you are not invited to touch! This is an alien species! Do you not understand that your actions could have serious ramifications if taken the wrong way?" Celia hissed darkly, surprising both Veme and Liam. 

Veme suddenly seemed to realise her mistake and bowed her head slightly, "My apologies, Seeker, I meant no offence, my curiosity sometimes gets the better of me," she said, and Liam nodded.

"Apology accepted, Veme, but I would have to agree with your sister here, while curiosity is a fine thing it would be much better to ask permission first, while humans may be rather temperate for the most part, our brothers and sisters of the Yautja are not, touch one of them without permission and you are likely to lose the offending limb and if you touch a yautja's claimed mate without permission........yeah, just don't do that, it's a whole universe of bad," Liam said an apologetic note in his voice.

This actually seemed to brighten Veme up and she began scribbling notes again, "So the Yautja are more aggressive than humans?" she asked curiously, and Liam smiled and chuckled, making her bob her head slightly as well as flick her tongue.

"That there is the understatement of the century, they're a species born of violence and strength, they seek to pit themselves against the strongest of prey, to hunt it and to kill it, the Yautja species as a whole live in nomadic tribes they call clans and they roam the universe looking for the perfect prey to hunt and test themselves against, the Yautja of Clan Mason have learned to channel those instincts in very different directions fortunately," Liam explained as Veme scribbled furiously.

"Fascinating! I simply must hear more!" she exclaimed.

"I'd love to fill you in on the details but if you don't mind I'd kinda like to get some rest, it's been rather a long day and if there's more to come I need to be ready to face it," Liam said, rubbing his hand through his hair at the back of his head which seemed to make Veme scribble more.

"Good idea! We shall retire to our quarters, come, sisters, let us show Liam some Serpentinus hospitality," Celia declared quickly, and before Liam had been even introduced to her other two pack mates they were off, shepherding him away through the royal palace towards what appeared to be the living quarters for all who worked in the palace.

The place reminded Liam of pictures he'd seen on the Clan Mason Internet about human history, more specifically ancient castles, long corridors made from stone lit with modern torch equivalents mounted on the walls to give a modern twist to an old world feel.

It seemed that the Serpentinus honored their history greatly but liked to move with the times too, it gave the place a unique feel, the Diamondscale living space was huge but then none of these girls was exactly small so that made sense, a large braced wooden door unlocked with what was made to resemble an old style key but was actually an electronic key chip mounted inside an oversized case.

Leading them into a large, spacious room that wouldn't have looked out of place in ancient Babylon with harem girls and dancers lounging about on the huge red cushions that littered the floor around a large table.

The dead giveaway of the modernness of the room was the giant TV in the corner mounted to the wall that over looked the table, "You'll have to forgive the mess, I'm afraid we weren't exactly expecting visitors and since Celia's kidnapping we've all been in such a panic that cleaning really didn't come to the forefront of our minds," the large, cobra-like female said, it was only now that Liam noticed that she was dressed in a while lab coat and had almost medical like scrubs on under it.

"Its quite alright, I understand perfectly and honestly I'm just glad to be a guest in your home and I ask that you forgive my intrusion," Liam said, and the Cobra girl flared her hood, making Liam almost jump back as her head cocked and swayed and her tongue flickered at him, her hood retracted and she looked at Celia.

"You were right, sister, he is well mannered," she said, making Celia look somewhat flustered at having been caught out talking about Liam behind his back, he was curious as to what else she'd been saying about him.

"I'm sorry but we haven't been properly introduced," Liam said, holding his hand out towards the large cobra and she looked at it curiously.

"It's a human greeting and a sign of trust," Celia said, proudly displaying her new found knowledge of human culture, this seemed to perk up the little green tree-snake like woman who instantly slithered off before coming back with her own tablet to write notes on.

"I'm Leba Diamondscale, chief biologist at the royal academy for medical sciences, it is good to formally meet you, Seeker Liam Silver Mason," she said, flicking her tongue at him, Liam now noticed her voice was deeper than that of Celia and he also noticed that she had two slight bulges in the roof of her mouth when she spoke, indicating that she might have fangs, he wondered if she was venomous.

"Please, just call me Liam," he said as she stuck out her hand, copying his movement and the surprise she got when he clasped it and shook it caused her hood to flare out again, it seemed to flatten her whole neck and head as she did it, he also noticed those bulges in her mouth moved, indicating that she had possibly readied her fangs.

"Fascinating! Please, tell me what this gesture is meant to symbolise?" the small green tree-snake like female said, quickly sticking out her own hand in the hope that Liam would shake it as well, he did so and noticed how much smaller her hand was to the others.

"It's a throwback to our ancient past, it was meant to show that we weren't concealing a weapon and that our intentions are honorable, a greeting of peace, which is why its primarily done with the right hand as the vast percentage of humans are right handed," Liam explained, having learned this from Jack.

"Fascinating! This indicates tribal or possibly warrior heritage! Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me, my name is Sev Diamondscale and I'm the chief historical researcher at the Royal college of history," she said, smiling up at him, her head was smaller than the others but her eyes seemed to be the same size which made them look huge and very bright.

"It is good to meet you, it's good to meet all of you, in fact, when Celia informed me that she lived in a pack of four I had wondered what you guys would be like, especially when she said that you were all different genus," Liam said.

All of them seemed surprised by this, "Don't humans live in packs then?" Sev asked, and Liam shook his head but before he could answer Celia got there first.

"Humans are solitary, and get this, they only mate with one person, one male each! Can you believe it?" Celia said, and now the others looked at him, utterly amazed.

"One male each? How positively extravagant! I cannot begin to fathom what such a society would look like," Sev said.

"I know! That's what I said, but I've seen it with my own eyes aboard their ship, I saw a human male mated with one of their Xenomorph females and another who was being courted by a Yautja female, it was incredible to witness, and what's more, I saw their quarters aboard their ship, built for one but with room for two! Just two, can you believe it!? One male and one female!" Celia said happily, and Liam was feeling kinda flustered now, he sensed the questions coming.

So he headed them off quickly, "Umm, not to be rude but may we sit down before we begin what I get the feeling is going to be a lengthy interrogation?" He asked jokingly.

"Oh, of course! I forget about your legs constantly, please forgive me, you must think we're terrible hosts, please, pick a cushion, any one except the royal blue one, that is Leba's, it was a gift from the regent after she saved her life from a terrible illness once and she's very territorial over it, so if you don't want to find out if she can bite through that armor of yours avoid it at all costs," Celia said, shooting her sister a playful and devilish look.

Leba's hood flared in embarrassment and she hissed and this time she did bare her fangs and they were huge, about the length of Liam's hands from his wrist to his middle finger tip, pearly white and utterly smooth looking too.

"I am not!" she declared, but both Veme and Sev nodded in unison, "Yup, utter pillow whore," Veme said.

"Queen of the blue pillow," Sev said, and Leba's hood looked like it was trying to turn into a discus, it was so spread out now.

"He doesn't need to hear this! Honestly, you invite a male into our home then immediately begin to reveal our private pack business! What happened to good first impressions!?" Leba exclaimed, obviously embarrassed, which was made worse by the fact that she slithered over and immediately coiled herself up on the large blue pillow to sulk.

Liam resisted the urge to laugh and make her feel worse, "May I offer you a drink, Liam? Some tea perhaps?" Celia asked, and he smiled.

"Thank you, that would be lovely," he said, walking over to the pillows and looking for one to sit down on.

"Here, take this one," Veme said, gesturing to a large, soft looking red pillow, Liam nodded his thanks and sat down on it cross legged with the table right in front of him and the still sulking Leba opposite him, Sev and Veme snagged the cushions to either side of him, boxing him in against the table, he could positively feel the air next to his ears being vibrated by the flickering tongues.

A moment later Celia returned, carrying a tray of drinks and Liam instantly noticed her expression sour somewhat as she noticed her sisters were sat next to him, but she threw on her best diplomat face and set the tray down and started handing out brightly decorated mugs to each of them, each of the mugs seemed to reflect the personality of its owner in some way.

Leba's was kinda shaped like a heart and not a cutesy love heart but that actual organ complete with a drinking spout made from an aorta, next up was Sev's which seemed to be shaped like a book compete with pages, Veme's was shaped like a what looked like DNA but it was a little off having three strands in a kinda pyramid shape which was interesting and finally there was Celia's mug which was plain white with a multi colored circle on it it running the entire way around it.

The mug she gave to Liam seemed to be shaped like a miniature Serpentinus, it was a female and of the python genus like Celia and you drank out of the top of its head, he accepted it gratefully and took a sip of the incredibly sweet brew.

They were all watching him curiously, including Leba who was still kinda sulking, "How is it? To your liking?" Celia asked, flicking her tongue at him along with the other three.

"Its sweet and tasty, thanks," Liam said, making her smile then she turned to her sisters.

"I sampled some of their food on their ship, it's truly incredible, they make this meat dish called pulled pork and it's so utterly sweet and tender that it literally falls to bits, it's like it was designed for us, so easy to eat and digest," she said, making both Leba and Sev reach for their notes.

"So, how many different species of sentients live on your homeworld?" Sev asked.

"On Clan Mason's home world there are three, humans, Yautja and Xenomorphs, each very different but united by our singular purpose and dedication to the clan and its principles," Liam said.

"Are there sub genus or are all of you the same?" Veme asked.

"Oh, there's a whole variety of us, humans come in all shapes, sizes and colors but we're all human at the end of the day, same with the Yautja, same species, different skin patterns and colors, with the Xenos it's a little different, until kinda recently the only way they could reproduce was through parasitic implantation, which left unchecked resulted in their birth killing the host which they took a section of DNA from changing their overall appearance, but in recent years the hives of Clan Mason with the dedicated work of a human scientist managed to overcome this problem and gave the Xenos the freedom they deserve," Liam said.

"Fascinating," Leba, Sev, and Veme all said at the same time while Celia smiled proudly.

"And that's before we even get onto the Dream Warriors, trust me, sisters, I think we may have actually solved the myth and mysteries of the Ghost Slitherers, the things that Liam can do and some of what he explained to me match the legend perfectly," she said, making Sev's face light up and her tongue almost turn into a little propeller sticking out of her mouth.

"Seriously? The Ghost Slitherers?" she said, disbelieving but curious.

"Ok, tell me, Sev, you're the historian, what and who were the Ghost Slitherers and what could they do?" Celia asked, looking at her pack sister.

Sev looked thoughtful and then she rose from her cushion and slithered over to a book shelf and Liam had to admit that Celia was seriously fast when she wanted to be.

"Well, the Ghost Slitherers have been mentioned in many ancient texts but the most comprehensive reference to them was in the Dadus, the book of tribes, it mentioned individuals with powers beyond comprehension, speed and strength beyond measure that it was said that they were like a one Serpentinus army, but people were scared of them and they hunted them for fear that they were possessed by evil spirits, but no one knows whether or not anyone ever managed to kill one of them, they simply vanished from the world, but every so often one would be referenced somewhere in an obscure text or two," Sev said, selecting a huge, very old looking book from the shelf near the top.

Liam watched curiously as she rose up on her tail to collect it, when she got back down she turned and scowled when she realized Celia had pinched her cushion next to Liam, but rather than argue with it she simply slithered over to the one that Celia had occupied and sat in it, placing the large, leather bound book on the table with a loud bang that made them all jump.

She began flicking through it, turning the old, yellowing pages carefully until she found what she was looking for, there was a section that led off with an illustration of a Serpentinus female with what appeared to be ancient tribal style gear, she appeared to be surrounded by a cloud of brightly coloured energy and was holding what appeared to be a smiling skull.

"They were also called Necromancers because it was believed they could commune with and control the dead," Sev said, pointing at another illustration that showed another Serpentinus surrounded with energy talking to see through ones that were obviously spirits of the dead.

"Hmmmm, seems to me that you indeed have Dream Warriors on your world, because what you've basically just described is a Soul Knight," Liam said, making Sev's head snap up.

"Wait, isn't that what you are?" Celia asked, and Sev's head snapped between the two of them as Liam nodded.

"Yeah, and Jack Mason as well, we have four Soul Knights down here and four Tamers, Jack is the leader of the Soul Knights and Ryan is the Leader of the Tamers, but Jack is the overall Leader of the Seekers of Truth and is in charge of the Seeker temple back on our homeworld, he's the leader of all the Seekers given that he's not only the most powerful Dream Warrior to ever live but is touched by the Gods themselves, it was him that met your Great Tree along with Analise who's the second in command of the Tamers under Ryan Mason," Liam said, and all of them looked confused and utterly amazed, except for Celia who smiled smugly at her sisters.

"W-W-Wait, are you saying that Ghost Slitherers are real!? And you are one of them!?" Sev exclaimed.

"How did you think I put the language you are currently able to understand in your head? Normal humans can't do that," Liam said, and they all went silent.

"Wait, those are two totally different things, that could be a simple case of telepathy or something, it's long been theorised that many alien species could have severely advanced prefrontal cortex's that would allow them to communicate telepathically," Veme said, and Leba nodded her head in agreement and Celia smiled.

"Show them how you move, Liam," she said with a grin, and Liam smiled as he got where she was going with this, a slight crackle of energy lit his hair briefly and then Liam tapped Leba on the shoulder, making her turn around before doing the same to Veme and Sev.

Each of them turned around and looked behind them in confusion, they turned back and found Liam with his drink in his hand, smiling at them innocently, "Wait, I felt his hand on my shoulder!" Sev exclaimed, and then Liam got a devilish idea and he'd been aching for an excuse to use this ever since Jack had taught it to him, he began to focus his mind and his eyes began to glow brighter and brighter as he summoned his energy to him.

"Souls of the honored passed, shield me your humble brother from the sight of my enemies, let me walk among them unseen, let them not see me or feel me pass, cloak me in your spirit and let me move unseen and unnoticed," he said to himself softly, but their hearing was sharp enough to catch every word right up until a swirl of grey smoke encased him and he vanished from their sight.

Standing up from his pillow he saw the four utterly amazed women flicking their tongues at where he was once sat but they obviously couldn't taste him in the air there anymore but to be sure Sev waved her arm through where he sat and found nothing.

"T-T-That's not possible!" Leba and Veme stammered in perfect unison as they both leaned forwards and waved their arms through the air where he'd been while Liam chuckled softly, knowing they couldn't hear him, the Cloak of Souls allowed a Soul Knight to pass unseen and unheard through any enviroment, it was basically like they existed in the spirit realm temporarily, the four of them fanned out and began waving their arms about looking for him.

"I can't even smell him!" Veme exclaimed, Liam brushed his hand over the back of her shoulder, making her jump out of her scales, "Something touched me!!!!" She squealed, and Liam darted forwards and brushed Leba's arm, making her hood shoot right out in alarm.

"And me!!!" she yelled, and Liam emerged from a cloud of smoke in the middle of them all, grinning like an idiot as the four of them instantly locked onto him.

"We call it the Cloak of Souls," he said as the four of them slithered right at him and coiled loosely around him, all poking at him at once, he heard their fingers tapping his armor and that's when he got another devilish idea.

Suddenly another Liam walked out of a second cloud of smoke, "he's not the real Liam Silver, I am," he said.

"So am I," a third said.

"Why are you listening to them, I'm the real one," a fourth said, and the four Serpentinus girls looked amazed until Celia noticed the real Liam's eyes glowing and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"This is the real one, his eyes glow and I've only seen that when he does something that uses his abilities," she said, and Liam grinned as the other Liam's vanished like smoke in the wind.

"Very observant, Celia, color me impressed, no one has ever seen through my Soul Split before," he said.

"This is truly incredible! What else can you do?" Sev exclaimed, leaning her body out while keeping her tail in a loose circle around his feet to retrieve her notes, Leba did the same and now even Veme had magicked up a note pad from somewhere, the three of them furiously scribbled.

"Umm, a whole host of things really, I'm much stronger and faster than a normal human, we can also see things before they happen to some degree, plus, we can read minds, but it's kinda complicated," Liam said, before he could say anything more the four of them guided him back to his cushion and sat him down, both Leba and Sev moved their cushions around to his side of the table and he found himself surrounded on all sides now.

"Alright, well, it begins with which type of Dream Warrior you are......" Liam said, and he began to explain about the differences between the different type of Dream Warriors and how their powers were based, all the while the four of them scribbled furiously, well, three of them did, one of them just watched him, smiling.

"This is incredible! All this time, all this time these stories were believed to be just myths and legends but they could have been real! Our people could have had their very own Dream Warriors, hell, we still could have them hiding in the shadows for fear of persecution, by the Great Tree, do you realise what this could mean for our people!?" Sev said.

"Well, as long as your scientists don't decide they want to study and dissect them like lab rats I'd say pretty good," Liam said, and Leba held a finger to argue then shut her mouth very quickly as she realized just what it was she was about to argue to them.

"But how are we supposed to learn about them and how they are different from normal Serpentinus if we don't study them?" Veme asked.

"Simple, you observe and note, our people have highly advanced medical scanners that can spot a single cancer cell in a whole body of healthy ones and they will tell you one thing, there is no biological difference between a normal human and a Dream Warrior human, it's the same with the Yautja too, unfortunately science really won't tell you why we are what we are because it's nothing to do with science, you can't create Dream Warriors artificially, we are the products of the Gods themselves, souls touched by the Gods and blessed before we're even conceived, chosen to be the way we are and not even we know why we're chosen because that is one secret the Gods always keep," Liam said.

Both Leba and Veme looked lost at this, it was obvious religion wasn't really their thing and Liam sensed it, "Look, I get your dedication to science, I really do, trust me, if you ever visit my homeworld I'm going to take you to visit the hives of Queen Citrus and King Yoshi as well as Queen Zara and King Cortez, Citrus' hive is our tech centre, there isn't a problem those guys can't figure out, and Zara's hive is the birth place of our Battle Angels, it's basically a giant teaching hospital specialising in saving life no matter whose or how and I'm sure they'd be thrilled to get to show off for you and trade knowledge with you, it's what we're all about as a clan, unity," Liam said, making them both smile at the prospect of sharing their knowledge with others like them.

"Well, at least we still get to study an alien species in the form of yourself, you are so vastly different to us, it's quite amazing really, and I don't mean the legs, all the other species of the Great Tree have them, save for us, but fur and skin? An evolved mammalian species? Utterly amazing and impressive, there is just so much to learn, like is your body temperature self regulating or do you have to heat bask? Does that fur serve a purpose or is it decorative? To name but a few," Leba said, and Veme nodded in agreement.

"It's decorative really, our bodies are covered in a light fine covering of it, thicker on our males than on our females but then our females tend to remove it for aesthetic and comfort reasons," Liam said.

"It's on your body too!?" Leba said, lowering her head to chest level and flicking her tongue at his chest plates like she was trying to taste the hair through his armor.

"it would have been for survival purposes and heating once upon a time but now in the age of clothing it's kinda redundant really, we're the only sentient species that we've encountered that does have it actually, both the Xenos and Yautja don't," Liam said.

Leba and Veme began to scribble furiously, "Is it all over you body or in just certain places?" Leba asked.

"All over, here, look, it's even on my hands," Liam said, holding out his hand for them to see and before he could say a word in protest both Leba and Veme grabbed his hand and began to study it so close that he could feel their tongues almost tickling his skin as they made the light fine hairs on his hand move.

"Incredible, his species are exothermic! Feel how warm his skin and blood are! Most likely he could survive in low tempretures and even sub-zero ones with the right protection!" Veme said, and Leba nodded excitedly.

"And feel how soft his skin is, it's obviously self sealing and healing by these scars, so his blood must have a high degree of clotting ability, oh, how I would love to get a look at it," she said, and Liam raised an eyebrow at her, causing her hood to flare again.

"Y-Your healing process, I mean, obviously!" she exclaimed hurriedly, a little too hurriedly.

"Honored guest, Leba, not a science experiment, he's not going to cut himself just so you can see his body heal," Celia chastised her sister, and Leba's hood retracted and she nodded, releasing his hand as did Veme.

"Sorry, Seeker, I meant no offence obviously, I would do nothing without your permission and I would never do anything that would cause you harm or wish harm upon you," she said softly.

Liam chuckled softly, he honestly thought that her curiosity was endearing, plus, that thing she did with her hood when she got flustered was surprisingly cute, "It's alright, Celia, curiosity is a given here really, I mean, you're sat with an alien species in your apartment, it's only natural to want to understand to see the similarities and the differences and then wish to understand those differences, I am as equally curious of your kind," he said, smiling at her, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Leba lift her head again.

"If you have any questions please ask them and we will answer all we can," Sev said, and they all nodded.

"Well, the first thing I'm going to ask, and please don't take this the wrong way as I know about your birth rates, but where are all your males? I haven't seen one since we arrived," he said.

"We don't have a male, not yet anyway, but we're always hoping to meet the right one," Celia said, smiling at him warmly, and he also noticed she never blinked when she said that, looking right at his eyes when she said it.

"Umm, I believe he means where are all the males, Celia, I don't think he's auditioning for us and a place as our pack male, are you?" Leba said, her hood flaring and her attention switching from her sister to him at that last part.

"Ummm, no, no, I was wondering where they all are is all," Liam said quickly, feeling a little flustered and instantly both Leba and Veme's eyes widened and they both lunged forward, getting right into his face, their large heads dancing about in front of him, startling him.

"Incredible! Simply incredible! His skin seems to change color as part of an emotional response! Do your species communicate through colors as well as words?" Leba asked, gripping his face in her hands and he felt the coolness of her skin through her fingers and she rotated his head left and right to see him better.

"Ummm, somewhat, it's a reaction to an emotional state, a form of non-verbal communication or body language," Liam explained.

"And what emotional state causes a red flush like this?" Leba asked.

"Ummm, a couple of things, but the most common is embarrassment," Liam said quietly, and suddenly Leba let go of him but she smiled slightly and somewhat slyly.

"It is a very pretty color on you," she said, and Veme nodded in agreement while Celia seemed rather flabbergasted by her sister's sudden change in demeanor.

"And to answer your question, our males are under protection, whether they like it or not they are our most sacred commodity, without them there will be no next generation and it is the duty of every female among us to protect them, so when the alarms would have sounded every pack with a male in their number would have rushed them into hiding to protect them, shelters and protection sites were set up many generations ago after an incident where Draconis commandos tried to sabotage our specie's future by kidnapping and killing our males, a team of raiders posing as merchants infiltrated our society and kidnapped a number to be taken as slaves on their homeworld and killed those they could not take because they were unable to isolate them from their pack, it was cowardly and dishonorable, it is why we have no contact with them and if their ships enter our space they are fired upon without warning," Celia said.

This little fact horrified Liam, to attempt to propagate a genocide by attempting to rob a species of its ability to reproduce was truly horrific but their history fascinated him so they continued to talk for quite some time about species differences, everything from strength differences where Liam wound up arm wrestling Celia, first using his regular human strength where he lost badly and this seemed to please the Serpentinus girls to know they had an edge on strength, well, that was until he challenged her to a rematch and used his Dream Warrior strength and flattened her.

"How is that possible!? She beat you the first time, how do you now win?" Veme exclaimed.

"I wanted to show you the difference between a regular garden variety human and a Dream Warrior, what we look like and what we are is very different, but it's kinda like a mental switch, I flip it off and I'm a regular human, I flip it on and I'm a Dream Warrior," Liam explained, and they scrabbled to take notes.

Liam noticed Celia rubbing her wrist, "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"My pride maybe, males are weaker than females here so for a female to lose a test of strength to one is unheard of," she said, and he nodded, understanding somewhat, pride was a big deal to them and he could see that intentionally wounding the pride of a Serpentinus woman was not wise.

"I believe we should eat, none of us have eaten for days, we've been so worried about you, Celia, plus, our guest must be famished and what sort of females would we be if we do not offer a male in our midst a hearty meal," Sev said suddenly, and Celia brightened.

"Oh, I ate aboard their ship, here's a fun medical fact for you, humans need to eat every day, three times a day to keep themselves healthy," she said, and both Leba and Veme looked amazed.

"Is this true? You eat every single day?" Leba asked, and Liam nodded.

"Yes, our metabolisms are not like yours, we require on average two thousand calories a day as a Guardian due to the incredibly strenuous nature of our job," he said.

"They also eat a lot less than we do in a sitting, not even a quarter," Celia said, and both Leba and Veme wrote it down.

"Well, we will make a traditional Serpentinus meal for you and you can sample our local cuisine, do you have any dietary requirements that we should be aware of?" Sev asked, and Liam shook his head.

"No, I can eat pretty much the same stuff you guys do but I have a scanner with me so please don't take offence if I scan anything before consuming it just to err on caution's side," he said, and both Leba and Veme nodded in agreement.

"A wise male indeed, many would have jumped in ignoring caution and safety for fear of offending but it is a much bigger offence to endanger your guest, this male is wise, sister," Leba said, smiling at Celia who smiled back.

"Told you so, and honorable too," she said, making Liam flush slightly as he remembered her words to him earlier and Celia noticed the color change and a sly smile raised on her face and her tongue flickered, she obviously remembered as well.

"Perhaps you would enjoy a chance to freshen up while we prepare food?" Sev said, making Liam nearly jump out of his skin as her voice snapped him out of the stupor that had over come his mind.

He was about to answer that he was fine but Celia got there first, "Wonderful idea, sister! I will show him to our bathroom and how everything works, their bathrooms are very different to ours, there's no sand, can you believe that?" Celia said, clapping her hands together and moving like lighting to pull the surprised Liam up from his cushion and to begin guiding him through their dwelling.

"No sand? How do you keep your skin soft and smooth?" Sev asked curiously, but before he could answer her he had been ushered through the dwelling and into a large room that had a huge shower inside it, in fact, half the room seemed to be shower, the room was divided in two, they had a rather odd shaped and large toilet, a sink and mirror setup and then a huge glass sliding door that separated the other half of the room.

In this side there were large rain dropper heads all along the ceiling and smaller jets in the walls, "You want to stay away from these, they will spray you with sand and I can't imagine they would be too good for your skin," Celia said as she locked the bathroom door behind them quietly and then slithering into shower side and pointing to them.

"Yeah, they will most likely strip my skin off," Liam confirmed, but then Celia slithered out of the shower side and right up to him, her bright eyes shining, her tongue was flickering constantly.

"That armor of yours is very pretty, you know, Liam, I like the way its colors make your skin stand out and it compliments your hair and eyes," she said, winding loose coils around him, again not touching him.

Liam's heart was beginning to beat so hard in his chest he was beginning to worry that it might set off one of the Battle Angel alarms as they constantly monitor the life signs of all active Seekers and Hunters as well as all active and operational personnel, if you had to take your armor off you had to inform them otherwise someone would get a flatline and punch a panic button, then moments later the door would go in hard and the place would flood with panicked Battle Angels looking for a casualty to attend, you don't fuck with the Battle Angels when it comes to protecting people, they are every bit the warriors that the Hunters and Seekers are, hence their name, they fight to defend, if someone stands in their way to protecting and the innocent or their charges, then they go through you with zero hesitation.

"Since you need to take a shower now would be a very good time for you to keep your word to me and restore my honor, don't you think?" Celia said with a soft hiss in her voice, Liam felt his mouth go dry and the hairs on the back of his neck prickle but she was right, this was as good a time as any, even if she had orchestrated it, he nervously looked at his feet and nodded, blowing out a held breath.

"Alright, Celia, I am a man of my word," he said softly, then he tapped his wrist comp and triggered the privacy mode which sent a code the Battle Angels aboard the Dreamer that his bio sensors would be going offline, it bleeped to confirm the code was received and then he shut it down.

Liam's fingers began trembling again as he began to unhook his armor, there were a series of hisses and clicks as the mechanisms that sealed him inside unlocked it and he began to remove the outer plates, first the gloves and arm pieces up to the elbows unhooked, then the full chest piece complete with shoulder pauldrons that still had his plasma casters on their gimbals attached.

Then it was his magnetic boots up to his knees and finally his main pants, all the metal pieces were placed in a neat pile near the sliding door, now he was left standing in his jet black, skin tight thermal undersuit, this helped to regulate his body tempretures for use in all environments, including space itself.

Liam nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot as he nervously played with his hands before taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he reached behind himself and unzipped the suit right down to his waist before slowly peeling it down his chest to his waist, he could once again see Celia's tongue flickering in and out of his vision as he began to to peel the suit down his body to his feet, leaving him stood only in his boxers.

It was time for the final piece, only his boxers were left to preserve his modesty and Liam's feelings were once again swirling, on one hand he was kind of excited about being seen in all his naked glory by a very beautiful alien woman, on the other hand he was kinda worried whether he would be perceived as too alien for her to even think of him as attractive despite him thinking of her as very much so, not to mention the fact that it felt kinda forced in a way.

But his honor demanded reconciliation and he had indeed seen her in all of her naked glory and now it was his turn to reveal himself so with a final deep breath he pulled his boxers down his legs and kicked them into the pile with the rest.

Liam stood there with his breath held and his hand cupped over his groin, "Move your hands, let me see you, all of you," Celia said, her voice kind of husky, almost sensual but also rather commanding, he guessed this was the dominant side that all females of this race had, being the dominant gender on this world, but some part of him responded to it, like it craved her approval, so he did as he was told and moved his hands apart, revealing his most sacred treasure to her for her to scrutinize.

Celia moved closer and coiled herself around him once more, though this time her coils were much closer to him than ever before, she was almost touching him on all sides and she leaned down to look at him closely and this time he did feel her tongue brush his skin once or twice, "You are very beautiful, Liam, I do not know why your nakedness makes you embarrassed in this way, though I will not deny that color really suits you, it is very pretty," Celia said in a soft voice.

That's when he noticed that she hadn't even looked at his manhood yet, she seemed to be savoring the experience, taking her time to look him up and down, she started at his neck and face, moving hers very close to him and moving down his chest and stomach, he felt her tongue catch his hair more than once, "I'm not exactly used to showing my body off, you know," he said, his voice trembling slightly, he noticed a very covetous and hungry look in her eyes as she glanced up at him.

"I do not know why, for my eyes you have nothing to be shamed by, if you are an example of what your species can produce on the male side your females should be always smiling and proud, I cannot see a single part of you that is not a delicious and sweet treat for female eyes, wait, is that your maleness?" She said, and he felt the air around his manhood vibrate like her tongue had come very close to it, her words flattered him but his feelings were still twisting around in his head like two greased eels wrestling.

He nodded without looking down, knowing where she was instinctively, "Wow, what an unusual shape, is the tip flared like that to give a female more pleasure, and it's on the outside of you body, how do you protect it, and are those your seminal sacks? You have two?" she exclaimed, he nodded again.

"It looks so soft, how is a female supposed to be able to insert this into herself I wonder?" she asked, though he didn't know if she was asking him a question or just speculating.

"It becomes erect when aroused and fills with blood, making it harder and bigger," Liam said in a nervous voice, he was actually beginning to feel kinda humiliated here.

"It gets bigger!? How much bigger, please show me, I wish to see it big!" Celia said, and Liam swallowed hard and that little voice in the back of his head told him to do as he was told but another voice in his mind spoke up now, the voice of his pride and it told him to resist.

"No, I believe I have upheld my word to you, Celia, and your honor is restored, now, please, if you do not mind, I would appreciate some privacy to shower," he said, and the big Serpentinus female came up sharply, looking into his eyes from point blank range, he saw a mixture of thought flickering through those bright golden eyes of hers all at once but then like someone flicked a light switch off on her head they cleared and the look was replaced by one of surprise and horror.

"I-I apologise, Liam, it....it was not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin, I-I simply wished to admire you and you have indeed honored your agreement to me and in fact, now I find that I am the one who has sullied you honor, you got but a glimpse of me and here I am utterly scrutinizing you, I was captivated by your alien and masculine beauty, you gave me a gift of your word and I abused it, I must make this right," she said, and before Liam could say another word Celia's clothes had joined his in the pile and she was as naked as he was.

Liam's brain utterly froze like someone had hit the fucking pause button, none of the commands that were being expected by his mouth and his muscles were received, in fact, the only part of him that seemed to still work were his eyes, which roamed over the incredible mosaic of interlocking scales which flexed and shifted, revealing the taught muscles under them, her large, soft looking breasts swayed and shifted with her every sway and movement, her hips shifted and highlighted the indented triangle that held the soft looking scaly lips of her alien womanhood which glinted and glistened as the light hit it, wait a second, was she wet?

Another part of his anatomy went into auto pilot and diverted some of his blood supply and no sooner had the last of her clothing hit the floor than she noticed it and her eyes went wide, "You were not exaggerating! That thing is incredible!" she exclaimed, looking right at his manhood and Liam felt a flush of both pride and also embarrassement.

"I, errr, umm, thank you, I guess," he said, and Celia chuckled softly.

"Humans are a strange bunch, you feel embarrassment of something in which you should feel pride, your pack would be forever smiling here, though you may be a little sleep deprived at times," she said in a husky voice, and suddenly she struck forwards and gripped his hands at the wrists, preventing their target of covering himself up again.

"Humans are not used to nakedness around others, especially strangers, it is frowned upon in our culture, it is supposed to be something kept for our beloved ones," he said.

Celia noticed his discomfort and the diplomat in her kicked in, "Well then, given you are not on a human world I should show you the Serpentinus way of doing things, believe it or not, we too are not comfortable with nakedness outside of our pack, for they are our sisters and we are equal in all things, my sisters are a part of me as I am of them, only they are aloud to see me as I am now and so would our pack male when he is claimed into our pack, but pack mates do all things together, come, I will show you, you were kind enough to give me a look into the lives of your people, now I will do the same, you will be our honorary pack mate and not just our guest," Celia said, still holding his wrists with a grip like iron, though not painful.

Then before Liam could protest or argue he was pulled into the shower side and the door closed behind them, Celia instantly coiled herself around him and this time her coils did touch him, "Pack mates often shower in twos, it helps us to maintain proper hygiene as some parts of our bodies are hard to reach and clean, so we help each other," she said, and before he could say a word she flicked the button to start the water.

It was like being inside a rain storm, a fucking ice cold rain storm, ice cold water dropped on them from the multitude of shower heads, Celia squealed loudly and her coils tightened around Liam, pinning his arms to his sides as the glass smooth scales of her large coils tightened against his flesh, he could feel her body leaching heat from him, "Sorry, I forgot about that, it'll warm up in a moment," she said, laughing as cold water cascaded down over them both.

Liam was about to protest and to ask her to let go until what his eyes saw short circuited his brain and made his manhood throb, it also made his body produce even more heat which her body was actively seeking, the water was cascading down the valley of her breasts, making them shine and look like fresh mountain streams which just begged to be drunk from, his brain was just creating images of scenarios in which he placed his face between those insanely soft looking scaly mounds and drank deep.

But then just as she promised the water warmed up and she loosened her grip, "Sorry, I hope that wasn't too uncomfortable for you, our cold blooded nature means we seek out heat where we can get it and you are just so incredibly warm, it's like having a beautiful walking talking heater, especially when you're embarrassed, it makes all that deliciously hot blood of yours rush to your skin," she said kind of playfully with a flick of her tongue which scattered water drops that hit it.

That actually made Liam laugh, "Never been described as a space heater before," he said, and Celia smiled at him.

"Thats because you've never had a cold blooded woman to appreciate it before, but trust me, when my kind figure out that your kind are not only beautiful but warm too I can imagine humans are going to become very popular among maleless packs, exotic, delicate looking, small and cute, pretty to look at with colorful plumage to feast the eyes on, but then hot blooded and able to warm them through cold nights, oh, yes, I get the feeling humans are going to be very popular," she said with a sly smile that made Liam tingle all over, was she actively trying to seduce him?

Celia capitalised on the silence to grab a long looking shower scrub, it looked sort of like a loofa like he used himself back at home, only rougher in its contraction, obviously being designed for scale and not skin, "Here, I'm not sure if this will work properly on you but don't worry, I will be gentle with you," she said in a very soft, husky voice before she turned him around in her coils and using a sweet smelling soap on both the loofa and her hands.

She was using just her tail and her coils to keep him in place and Liam was aware that he could have escaped her any time he wanted, with his Dream Warrior strength on hand he could have simply walked out of there, but he didn't, his mind was so utterly frizzed he just let her place her large hands onto his back and begin to rub him with both her hands and the loofa which scratched his skin gently.

"It's not too rough, is it?" she asked right in his ear, her tongue flickering and tickling his ear lobe.

"No, it's fine," he breathed softly, feeling his heartbeat reverberating through his ribs and against the densely packed muscle of her tail, she ran the loofa and her hands all over the muscle of his back.

He felt the stress and tenseness washing out of his muscles as she worked her way down his back and onto his buttocks, "So smooth and so soft, and this delightful plumage, how is a female supposed to resist these delights you tease us with?" Celia whispered softly.

"I'm not trying to tease anyone, I'm just existing," Liam laughed softly.

"I know, and it boggles my mind that there were creatures as generous and strong, not to mention beautiful, just lurking around the corner in space from us and we never knew," she said.

She finished up washing his entire back before turning him around and Liam's heart began to beat even faster as she reached up to his head and began to rub the sweet soap into his hair, "So soft," she murmured as Liam's mind began to fog up again.

The cascading water managed to wash the soap out as fast as she could put it in, leaving his hair flat against his skin, she rubbed the soap over his face and he closed his eyes, not seeing the smile she gave him as he opted to trust her, she tilted his head back to allow the hot water to cascade down over his face, taking the soap with it, next up was his chest and he could feel her fingers lightly coiling and twirling his chest hair, being extra careful not to pull any out.

"It's like touching hot silk," Celia whispered huskily, and she continued down his belly, loosening coils as she needed and tightening others to keep him in place as she worked, when she had done his legs she had reached around him to do his fronts as well so now all that was left was his pelvis and his manhood.

Her hands danced around it, deliberately not touching it, she moved her upper half around him to look directly into his eyes, that's when he understood, she was seeking his permission to touch this treasure of his, although she had thoroughly explored the rest of his body she understood the sacred nature of this part of him, to touch it without his permission would be to assault him and he could see it in her eyes that she understood this, without saying a word he met her eyes and nodded and a smile crossed her face.

Her large hand encircled his manhood and it felt like it was encased in soft glass, the smoothness of her scales was utterly wonderful and the feel of her coolness sapping heat away from it before it spreading throughout her hand was so incredibly alien to him, "So warm, so incredibly hot," she murmured softly as her hand stroked slowly up and down his length, she gently squeezed it, testing the hardness of his muscles, again she refrained from using the loofa on this delicate part of him, her other hand slipped under his balls and gently rolled them, sending tingles and electric pleasure up his spine, making his hips buck and push him deeper into her hand.

"Human bodies are so honest," she whispered in his ear, making him gasp as his mind was flooded with fog that felt like warm clouds in his head, "Now it's your turn," she whispered, and with that she let go and his eyes snapped open, had she just been teasing him?

She handed him the loofa and the soap and then rotated her coils to face away from him, Liam felt like he was in a trance as he took them and began to slowly rub the soap into a lather before placing the loofa against her scale and began to rub, it felt like he was rubbing cool, polished glass, he felt her steel like muscles twisting, shifting and flexing as he began his journey from the top of her smooth head down her back.

He found himself surprised that she actually did seem to have buttocks and they were like two glorious globes of smooth heaven and she murred softly as his hand rubbed them, parting them slightly and to his surprise he found an anus in there winking at him.

He managed to tear his eyes away from it and continued down her long tail and she spun on the spot, making sure he got all sides as he moved, before as he came back up he found himself facing her front, now he saw her beautiful golden eyes watching him closely and more than a little hungrily as he washed her pretty face, her tongue flickering out and catching his face a couple of times, he actually found himself tempted to try and catch it with his mouth, he washed down her chest and her found himself looking at her breasts.

She nodded in the same way he did, silently giving permission as his hands lifted each of the surprisingly heavy orbs of scaled flesh and began scrubbing them, as he watched her huge nipples began to extend out from between their scaly prisons his fingers very gently touched the soft, cool, fleshy nubs and Celia's eyes closed and a beautiful expression crossed her face.

"Soooo warm," she gasped, and suddenly Liam realized that now the shoe was on the other foot so to speak, now he had the power to tease her a little like she'd teased him, so he played a little more, obviously sending little sparks of pleasure through her before he released her and began washing again, starting on her stomach.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him with a sharp look of disappointment and surprise, he just smiled at her sweetly as he worked his way down her belly towards her pelvis and her most sacred treasure, she squeezed him tighter in her coils as his fingers inched ever closer and closer and again their eyes locked and again she nodded her consent.

Liam could feel it, her want, her need, it was powerful and it was bleeding through into his mind as his Dream Warrior abilities began to light up all on their own, it was like those coils of hers were not only winding around his flesh but his soul, he also knew that she could feel his too because he could feel echoes of it bouncing between them, he'd never experienced anything like this in his life, was this love?

Suddenly his fingers found something incredibly soft and silky and Celia's eyes closed again and that expression of bliss returned to her face, he had never touched a woman like this in his life and here he was, having his first sexual experience light years away from his home in the shower of an alien with an alien girl.

His finger lightly tickled and brushed along the outer surface of her scales before lightly slipping between them and he felt the tremors passing through her, "So warm, so warm, so nice," she gasped softly, he very lightly moved them a little deeper between those scale covered silken lips and she gasped in pleasure.

That's when there was a loud knock at the door which startled them both, making Liam yank his hand back and Celia tighten her coils, trapping him again, "Celia, Liam, food is ready, come on," Sev's voice called.

"O-O-Ok, we're coming!" Celia called back, and then she locked her eyes on Liam's and he smiled.

"Saved by the bell again," he said, and with that she shut off the water and released him from her coils.

The pair dried each other off before Liam put his inner suit back on and was about to put his armor on when Celia stopped him, "You won't need it to sleep, leave it off," she said, and Liam nodded.

The pair emerged from the bathroom and found the lounge empty, the others were in the kitchen and Celia told Liam to wait here while she went to help her sisters in bringing in the food, Liam nodded and retook his seat on the cushion, his mind was whirling at what had just happened between him and the ambassador, he could hear hushed voices from the kitchen, there seemed to be a hurried exchange going on between the girls, they were probably gilling Celia about why she'd been in the shower with him, maybe they were angry with her, he hoped that he hadn't caused some kind of diplomatic incident here and he silently cursed himself for not resisting her.

He had to push this fog from his mind, he had to clear it and recenter himself, so, while they were discussing things he began to push his mind back into focus, began the breathing exercises that Jack had taught him, he let his power flow through him until it filled his every breath with light, his body became as light as the very air he breathed and he didn't hear them reenter until heard Leba's exclamation right next to him.

"He's floating!!" she exclaimed, and when Liam opened his eyes she saw her right next to him, swaying her hooded head back and forth, examining him, still holding a tray laden with dishes, her bright eyes were rapidly darting everywhere, suddenly her other sisters appeared and they all did the very same.

"Incredible! Simply incredible!" Sev said, running her hand through the gap between him and the cushion, Liam lowered himself back down, exhaling and allowing his power to reign back in.

"Sorry, it's Seeker focusing technique designed to give us mental clarity and focus," Liam said, giving her a soft smile.

"What else can you do?" Leba asked, and Liam laughed.

"Now it's not much fun if I give away all my secrets now is it?" he said kinda playfully, and Leba looked a little surprised and then her face broke into a wide smile as she realized he was just teasing her, flicking her tongue at him as she did.

Leba and Sev grabbed the seats next to him, annoying Celia again as she sat opposite him, this time being defeated by the need of the table to place the food on, the food looked absolutely delicious and smelled wonderful, there were a huge assortment of dishes and back home this would have fed half a hive of Xenos, these girls had one serious appetite, they all ate and they talked as they ate, they were barraging him with questions about his homeworld and what it was like to be a Dream Warrior as they ate and suddenly Liam had a tremendous idea, something he'd been taught early on as a Dream Warrior but had never had chance to use.

"You want to know about me, about my life, you know, it'd be easier to show you than tell you," Liam said, and all of them looked at him curiously.

"Join hands," he said, and they looked at one another curiously and unsurely.

"Trust me," he said softly, and they did so, forming a circle, Liam focused his mind and he pressed his hands to Celia's face, "See it now, see me," he said softly, and with that he pushed his entire mind into theirs and took all of their memories in exchange.

All of them sat there in stunned silence, staring into space as memories, not their own, flooded their minds, it was raw, unfiltered and powerful, it was one of the Dream Warriors most powerful tools when misunderstanding and suspicion threatened to rear their heads, their were no lies in the memory transfer.

"I-I-It's beautiful, is this your homeworld?" Leba exclaimed, seeing something that he was not privy to as it was happening inside her head.

"Yes, and that place with all the trees and plants is the Seeker temple," Liam said proudly.

"This is incredible," Veme said, and Liam was silent as now he was processing all of their memories, his mind was unraveling the four twisted, knotted threads that were their minds, he saw Leba's struggles with depression, he saw Sev's self consciousness and nervousness, he saw Veme's battle with crippling shyness and he saw Celia's anxiety, but he also saw their pride in one another, the closeness of their bond and it warmed his heart.

He turned to Sev first, "You don't need to be self conscious, Sev, you are a beautiful, young woman, your pack is proud of you," he said, surprising her, then he turned to Leba.

"Your success is more than enough to make your pack proud of you and to be associated with you," he said.

He turned to Veme whose wide eyes were tracking him, he reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, feeling it rob some of his heat away, "You don't need to be shy, Veme, take it from an alien male who's never met your species before, you are a beautiful member of it, be proud of yourself and your pack loves you very much," he said, and finally he turned his attention to Celia.

"No, I don't regret it and you didn't go to far, I'm a Seeker, Celia, if I wanted out not a single one of you would be able to see me, let alone catch me, I'm happy to be here with you," he said softly.

The four girls were utterly stunned to silence, then the three of them looked at Celia, "You were right, I agree, I'm in," Leba said, her hood flaring and she looked embarrassed.

"Yeah, I agree, I'm in," Sev said.

"M-Me too, I want this," Veme said, and Celia suddenly looked like she had won the lottery and suddenly the four of them were looking at him and all of them were wearing the same hungry expression.

"Umm, guys?" Liam said, and that's when the memories he had stored finished unraveling in his mind and he saw what they'd discussed in the kitchen and he felt his skin turn into molten lava.

"Oh," he said as the realisation hit him like a slap.

"Wash up tomorrow?" Leba said quickly, and the other three nodded and the four of them moved like lightning, lifting him from his pillow.

"Whoa! Hey!" he exclaimed as they hoisted him into the air between them and slithered at full speed towards what turned out to be their bedroom.


	10. Chapter 10

Hybrid Chapter 10: The Dance of Love.

Liam's heart was hammering so hard it felt like a hyper drive spooling up in his chest, each beat was so powerful it seemed to pulse right through every bone in his body like an echo, the four Serpentinus girls had snatched him up off his cushion in the living room and had made a bee line for what had turned out to be their bedroom, the whole place was basically a rats nest of pillows and blankets that sat on top of a giant mattress that filled the whole room and a heated mattress at that.

They'd deposited him in the middle of the room with them surrounding him on all sides, Liam looked up at them and from where he lay they looked even bigger than they already were, hell, even Sev, the smallest of them, looked huge from this angle so Celia and Leba were utterly huge, supremely intimidating to someone as small as him, well, except for the fact that he spent every day sparring with Yautja and there is little scarier than a female Yautja who just had her arse beat down by a small ooman.

But even so there was something far more to this, something that utterly tied his usual defence mechanisms up in knots and rendered them useless, as second in command of the Soul Knights Liam was pretty fucking far from weak or defenceless, even when unarmed and as naked as the day he was born Liam was still probably the most dangerous person in a room, well, unless that room contained either Jack Mason or Tik eleth, even with her not being a Dream Warrior only a fool underestimated Tik eleth, she lived with the most powerful Dream Warrior to have ever lived and even he admitted that she could beat him at times, so every one else was fucked.

The girls had formed a circle with their tail sections with him in the middle like a living bullseye, but something about this didn't scream danger, even if their glances at him were distinctly predatory in nature, Celia looked at Leba who looked at Sev who looked at Veme who looked at Celia.

Celia then looked from sister to sister and each of them in turn nodded, so she broke the group and quickly slithered over to a set of shelves and began rummaging around, "Fuck! I can't find it!" She exclaimed, a hard note of panic coming into her voice.

"What do you mean you can find it!?" Leba exclaimed, her hood flaring slightly.

"I mean it's not here!" Celia said.

"Shit, we can't do this without it, it's the only one we practiced with!" Sev exclaimed.

"Help me or we're gonna look like fools in front of him!" Celia exclaimed, and suddenly all four of them were at the shelves, rummaging and arguing like a family, leaving Liam sat confused on the heated mattress which was warming his backside as the four big girls rummaged through their belongings until Sev held something small and shiny aloft triumphantly, which earned her hugs from all her sisters.

Celia quickly dug out something that looked like a large triangle laid on its side and she slotted the shiny thing into it and began messing with the buttons on it before picking up a remote, "Positions!" she snapped quickly, and the four of them surrounded him, again forming the perfect circle again.

"Here we Serpentinus have a sacred tradition that's reserved for when we find a male who we deem worthy of our pack, someone that all the sisters agree upon and although we've only just met and known each other but a couple of days and my sisters less than that we have seen you, we have seen who and what you are and to say we like what we see is an understatement, you are so utterly different from us but at the same time so very similar, but in that day we have seen you fight for total strangers, aliens, people who don't know you and you owe nothing to, nor do they to you, and then ask for nothing in return but good will, now not only do you stay to defend us but you help us freely, offer us things while asking nothing in return and you Liam shared your whole life with us, showed us the truth of who you are and what you are and I speak for all my sisters when I say we like what we saw, so here we are, Liam, and now you are going to see one of our oldest traditions, the first alien to ever see it and it's as unique as the pack that does it and trust me when I say that we are praying that you like what you see and it compels you to join in," Celia said, her voice wavering but also determined.

With that heartfelt speech done, Celia clicked the remote and instantly the room was filled with a soft pink glow that then shifted to green then to blue before it began to to cycle through an array of colors that came from a series of small lights well hidden in the ceiling, this gave the room a soft ambience, moments later a soft music began to place, coming from the little triangle box but it seemed to be designed to make it echo so that it felt like it was coming from all around you.

The music was soft and almost tribal in nature, gentle drums played along with a kind of stringed instrument that gave the music and almost hypnotic effect it was like it twisted into your very soul and begged you to surrender to it, to give in to it and to just move with it, the four girls around him all closed their eyes and all around him they began to sway and to move in sync with the slow soft rythm.

Liam felt his eyes widen as the girls before him began to twist and to move, their tails entwined to form a kind of knot all around him and he watched all of their muscles flexing and twisting as they began to pull off things only someone with a body like theirs could, Liam felt like he was being hypnotized, the way the light caught their polished scales and made them shine like they were wet, the way those scales flexed and rippled as they moved slowly and sensually as they swayed and moved to the rythm, then without unlinking their tails so now Leba was in front of him rather than Celia.

As Liam watched, Leba flared her hood and fanned it like a pair of wings strapped to her head, sending a breeze washing over him and carried with it was a strong sweet scent, a scent that was nothing he had ever smelled in his life, though in a way it did kinda remind him of the smell in the Hunter gym when the Yautja girls were working out pumping iron and boy did those girls like their weight lifting.

The scent was sweet, like pollen on a spring day when the flowers were in bloom on the plains, the scent of a million different flowers all calling out to the busy bees to come to them, drawing them in, silently begging them to pollinate them and to carry on their legacy, to help them build a future brighter than the fields that they already had.

And like that pollen called to the gentle busy bees this scent that Leba wafted over Liam with her hood called to him too, it made his head feel foggy and rosy, it relaxed him even further, dissolving the walls his mind and heart had set up, for the first time in his life he felt like his body wasn't his own.

The girls were spinning on the spot without ever unlocking their tails, they twisted so they were facing away from him now and he was met with a sight like one he'd never seen, Leba was bending slowly down, rotating her hips to show off her very very shapely rear end through her clothes as she rotated her body in a slow, luxurious circle, in fact they all were, he currently had four alien rears aimed right at him, then they shifted again and now he was faced with Sev, the little green Serpentinus smiling with her eyes closed as she lifted her arms above her head to form a pyramid shape while shimmying left and right with her hips.

Her scales seemed to positively glow with every color that shone on them, as she leaned back her little chest stuck out as her clothes drew taught against her scales, he saw the two little mounds on her chest rising and falling and his mind began to draw delicious paintings made of clouds in his head of just how snuggly those beautiful little scaly mounds would fit perfectly into his hands, how she she would writhe and twist around him as he explored.

Then they shifted again and now it was Veme in front of him, and her scales looked like a rainbow as the light hit them, scattering it and making a kaleidoscope effect as they twisted and flexed with her every move, he could positively draw every single muscle under those pretty scales, only now did he notice that their tongues were flickering non stop, casting odd dancing shadows over them as they moved, they turned again and he got an eyeful of her incredibly shapely rear end as she slowly bent forwards and then rotated herself while still bent forwards so that she was now bent backwards, it was truly incredible to watch them and Liam's mind was slipping further and further into the cloud filled foggy hole that had opened up in his senses.

They shifted yet again and now it was Celia in front of him, she was doing some sort of movement with her arms like she was beckoning him to her, like a silent command that said, 'Come to me, come to us, join us, give in, don't fight us.'

The battle in Liam's head was already lost, before he even knew he'd moved he was on his feet and to his utter surprise he was dancing with them, or rather he was dancing with her, with Celia.

There was just something about her that he couldn't put his finger on, something so wonderfully seductive and yet deliciously strong, despite her not being a warrior he could feel her will, feel her resolve, as he began to to sway before her in time with the music, somehow not feeling like an utter fool despite not having a clue how to dance really, it was like her will summoned him to his feet and not sooner was he on his feet than the circle tightened around him, the girls were on all sides now, so close he could feel both their eyes and their tongues glancing over him.

Their tails wove even tighter so instead of being four girls it was like they were one girl like a dancing hydra all around him like she was going to swallow him whole, but the scariest part was that he didn't care, he actually welcomed it.

"You know, Liam, if a male dances back during a pack's heart dance it means he accepts them, that he accepts what they offer him and wishes to join them, to become a part of their pack, that he accepts what comes next and that he accepts that he belongs to the pack, not just a single member but all of them, everything is equal in a pack, everything is fair, my sisters are a part of me as I am of them, I live, breathe and die for them as they do for me, to become a part of our pack you must accept that too, we have accepted you, Liam, that is why we dance for you to show you who we are and what we are, now you are dancing with us," Celia said in a voice as soft as a strand of silk.

"What would happen if I didn't dance?" He asked softly, moving his head down close to the side of her head.

"That would mean that you are not interested in what we offer and the pack would break and we would leave you be, no hard feelings, no disdain, just disappointment, because a pack will only dance if they all not only agree but feel it," she said.

Suddenly there was a head next to his, "But you are dancing, your body moves to our rhythm," Veme said softly in that same silky voice.

"You hear us, you feel us as we feel you," Leba said from next to his other ear.

"And we dance together, accept us, Liam, as we've accepted you," Sev said from directly behind him.

Liam's heart just couldn't take it, it literally felt like it was melting in his chest, never in his life had he felt this way, he'd heard Jack describe love as fate, it was something you couldn't avoid or control, it just was, both the most fragile and powerful force in the universe, he hadn't understood it then but now he did, these four brilliant, powerful, strong, amazing women were pouring their hearts out to him though this dance of theirs, trying to put every one of their hopes and dreams, their wants, their needs, their desires and everything else into this one simple heart dance.

Liam leant forwards and with slowness that caused his muscles to twitch as they begged him to move as fast as they could which was even faster than Leba's fastest strike, but he deliberately resisted because he wanted to convey everything in this one slow and simple movement, he slipped his arms around Celia's neck and leaned forwards, inching closer and closer until he felt her flickering tongue brush his cheek and tickling his skin as it actually tasted him.

Her lips were soft, smooth as glass and exquisite and he pressed his to hers, just like their dance he was wanting to convey his feeling and his intentions to her but it wasn't just about her or him, it was about them, so keeping his muscles under control he released her from the kiss before turning slowly as he felt all of their coils tightening around him, next was Leba and he did the same to her, feeling the difference in her scales immediately as his lips pressed against hers, they were just as smooth but harder, her tongue flickered over his lips a second before they connected.

Sev's scales were soft like skin and seemed to actually mold to his, Veme's actually felt rough and contoured but once he'd kissed all four of them he turned back to face Celia as he felt four wide sets of eyes up on him.

"I accept you, all of you," he said softly, and as one they enveloped him in tight, squirming coils as they all tried and somehow succeeded to hug him all at once.

"Our male! We have a male! Finally!" Sev cried happily, lost somewhere in the squirming powerful coils that surrounded him.

Liam felt utterly overwhelmed by their emotions, he'd just surrendered to these utterly alien women whom somehow he'd managed to fall in love with in the space of less than a day, but like a lighting bolt to his heart it hit him hard and fast and he just knew, he could feel their hands roaming him through his under suit as they explored him and his alien body, he collapsed under their weight and the squirming mass with him at its centre fell onto the heated mattress.

The girls popped apart like a spring trap and somehow they managed to peel his suit off him without him even noticing, their tails slithered around his limbs, holding him in place but not tightly enough to bind him or to make him feel fear, but his heart did lurch and Celia's hand was on his chest when it did and she felt it.

"Please don't fear us, Liam, we won't hurt you, we would never hurt you, we just wish to show you our love in its purest form, we're letting our hearts guide us because none of us have ever done anything like this before," Celia said softly, leaning forward and resting her hands on his bare chest and flickering her tongue over his neck and cheek which made him shiver slightly.

"Just relax, beautiful one, and let us show you our way like you showed us yours," Leba said, pecking kisses over the other side of his neck as her hands ran over his chest.

Liam nodded, "I trust you," he said softly, and all four of them smiled at him.

The four of them suddenly slipped their tails under his prone body, lifting him up from the mattress and onto their scales, he could feel their densely packed powerful muscles rippling and undulating under him as they walked him up onto a deliciously soft bed of scales.

The four of them loomed over him, their scales dancing in the shifting light and they smiled down at him, Sev leaned down and slowly slid her hands down his chest, leaving cool trails down his skin, "So soft, so warm, so beautiful," she said softly as she stuck her thumbs into the waistband of his underwear and slowly pulled them down his legs, leaving him as naked as the day he was born, utterly laid bare on top of a bed make of feminine muscle and scale.

"By the great tree, you were right, Celia, he's the most beautiful creature I have ever seen with my own two eyes," Leba said, her hood flaring and casting a shadow over him as he looked from one beautiful alien face to the next, to his surprise he couldn't tell who was radiating the most love and desire for him, it was like their feelings and thoughts were so aligned that it swirled into one being and suddenly he realized the truth behind the pack, they were four different beings but they were one heart, to love one you must love all and to his joy, he did.

Sev began to plant kisses all over his torso and her hand slid down over his pelvis, cupping his manhood in it, then Celia reach down and took her sister's wrist, "Wait, Sev, we can see him in all his glory, it is only right and fair that he sees us too," she said softly, and Sev smiled and nodded.

The four of them reared up and began to shed their clothes above him, it was like being at a feast and not knowing where to start, each was so utterly different but so utterly similar but all equally beautiful, as layer after layer vanished and more and more became visible Liam's breath became tighter and tighter and his heart beat harder and harder, until all that was left was four girls in their underwear, then one at a time each of them removed their bra's, letting their breasts fall free.

Leba had the biggest set of the four, they were bigger than Laim's head then it was Celia, then Veme with Sev having the smallest but they still took his breath away, it was like seeing perfection morphing into different shapes around him, now all they had was four little sticky triangles covering up their modesty, then in the same wave they shed them too.

Now each of them was as naked as he was, this time it was Leba who came down to him and just like Sev did she planted kisses on his skin, her hands fluttering down over him as she reached down his pelvis, Liam tried to move his hands to touch them but his hands were tied down by their tail tips, "Please don't take my hands away, don't torment me this way, I want to touch you too, please don't deny me," he said softly, his voice strained as pleasure from her kisses ebbed through him.

Her hand slithered over his manhood and the coolness of her scales made him gasp as it contrasted his heat, Celia leaned down and kissed his neck and nibbled along his jawline until her beautiful face filled his vision, his hands had been pulled above his head while they'd been stripping and were now wrapped in two tails, one for each wrist, the same had been done to his ankles, he didn't know if this was something natural to them but the feeling of being restrained tormented him, his senses burned and yearned to be sated, it frustrated him in both a delightful and cruel way.

"Just relax, our sweet one, it's ok," she said softly, leaning in to kiss him.

Leba's hands gripped his manhood a little too tightly and a sharp jolt shocked his senses, making his whole body jolt, "S-Sorry, was that too rough? I've never done this before, it's so different to ours," she said.

"G-Gently I-it's sensitive," Liam gasped, his fingers and toes curling against his restraints, a part of him utterly loved it, the feeling of being out of control but another part of him hated it and it was warring inside his head, his feelings wrestling with each other.

Seekers are taught to control their feelings because it's what controls their power and abilities, it's why an untrained Dream Warrior is so dangerous because they react out of instinct and when you have as much power buried in your soul as they did you had to learn how to control it, or it controlled you and that was beyond dangerous when you could turn the entire of nature against someone or pull the dead to you like a giant magnet. 

He didn't want it like this, he wanted it to be equal, to be free, being tied down like this lit up his senses, put him on edge, it didn't feel right to him, he trusted them not to hurt him or to do anything to him against his will, but a little voice in the back of his mind began to shout to break free, subconsciously his Dream Warrior abilities began to bleed through his control as if it was listening to that little voice.

Liam's eyes began to glow as his powers began to listen to his instincts, like bulbs flickering to life behind his eyes and instantly Celia noticed, "L-Liam? What's happening?" She asked, looking in his eyes as she held his head in her hands.

"Not like this," he whispered, fighting the feelings that were welling up, feelings of powerlessness and mixed in with it a tint of fear and that burned, because he loved these girls and he couldn't bare the thought of being scared of them, or even worse, of them being scared of him.

"Let him go, he's not comfortable, he doesn't like it," Celia said, a note of concern penetrating her voice, instantly as she realized what was wrong and he felt a tail unwrap from around his right wrist, three heads popped up from where they'd all been planting kisses on his skin and looked at him, they saw the light in his eyes and were mesmerized by it, but they did as they were told and he felt his hands and legs become free.

Instantly Liam brought his hands up and gripped either side of Celia's head and he kissed her deep, he smashed his lips against her's and pushed his tongue into her mouth, her cool, soft scales feeling like they were melting under his touch and he felt her long tongue coil itself around his and they wrestled together, her saliva tasted sweet as honey with a hint of spice to it, when they broke to come up for air he looked right into her bright golden eyes and he knew the glow was gone, because now he felt safe, he felt free.

"O-oh, w-w-wow I've never felt anything like that before, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to frighten you or make you uncomfortable, we just wanted to show you that you could trust us, that even at your weakest with us you are strong because you have us and we have you, we didn't mean to take away from you, we're sorry," she said softly and breathlessly, and Liam kissed her again before sitting up and turning so he could kiss Leba, as his tongue slipped into her mouth he felt her fangs tucked up into fleshy sheathes against the roof of her mouth and in a show of trust he ran his tongue all the way down each one, even over the tips, being careful not to spike himself.

Unlike Celia, she tasted like berries, a little sweet and a little bitter but still delicious, then when they parted while her head was fogged and she sorta hung there with a dazed look on her face and her lips pursed he moved instantly to Sev and did the same.

Unlike Leba, Sev's fangs were in the back of her mouth but again they were tucked up, he kissed her deep enough to touch them as a little whisper escaped her as he very nearly licked the back of her throat, she tasted like vanilla and the smallest Serpentinus utterly melted in his grasp, before just like Leba he moved and grabbed Veme.

Like Leba, her fangs were at the front of her mouth, but again tucked up and sheathed and again he showed his trust by tasting every inch of them, the taste of caramel lingering on his tongue, when he parted from her he laid back down on their bed of tails and scales and time sped up after he burnt off the excess Dream Warrior energy and the four girls blinked as one as it hit them all at once, to them it would have felt like they'd all been kissed at exactly the same time.

"I'm not frightened of you girls, you got it right the first time, I love you, all of you and I trust you even though I've just met you, I know you would never hurt me, but I just don't feel comfortable being tied down like that, to me freedom is movement and movement is freedom, as a Dream Warrior my emotions fuel my powers, I just don't want you to ever see a negative side to me like that, I could hurt you by accident and the thought of me even so much as scaring you fills me with a dread so powerful that I can't bare it," he said.

Instanty he saw the look of love and understanding in their eyes and the four of them fell on him, enveloping him in their coils as they twisted together all around him, surrounding him in scaly love, this kind of restraint he could live with, because this was one he could love with, because he could touch he could feel and he could move, squirming and moving in-between those moving and flexing coils.

His hands slid along smooth scales and he couldn't tell who's they were, nor did he care, four sets of hands hungrily explored every inch of him, questing along his body as he shifted and moved through the coiling, writhing mass of female that enveloped him, a breast brushed his face and he saw the erect nipple so he, quick as a flash, hooked it with his tongue and popped it into his mouth.

As soon as his hot mouth enveloped the cool, sensitive nub of feminine serpent flesh Leba's voice squealed in pleasure from above him, he moved his hands through the squirming mass which blocked out all light and one found the side of what was definitely her hood which was in full flare, to his delight it was as sensitive as he'd hoped it would be, he rubbed its narrow edge between his thumb and fingers as he worked along it, his left hand brushed something cool but moist and his brain instantly recognized the texture and like a cobra striking his fingers darted and by the squeal of surprise and stuttered delight he'd found Veme's most sacred treasure.

His fingers slid effortlessly between her soaking slick lips and began to circle around until they found her entrance, it was pulsing and trying to grab his invading digits and no sooner had he lightly stroked it then it gripped his finger and drew it in, her muscle's strength was utterly incredibly, Veme howled with pleasure as he made a come hither motion with his finger and stroked her slick inner walls, finding them as tight as he could have ever imagined.

Leaving Leba's hood he slid his hand between the coils and found a firm globe of flesh that he realized was an ass cheek and as soon as he gave it a playful squeeze the mewl he got in rely told him it was Celia's, so with a little bit of effort and flexibility he ran his fingers up between those globes and tickled her back passage, making her stutter a moan as the pleasure surprised her, surprised her even more when his finger found its way inside and got pulled in wright to the knuckle.

Leaving Leba's breast, Liam used her body as a guide as she squirmed against him, keeping his face planted against her scales and kissing as she moved around him, he quickly found what he was looking for as his lips found another set of lips and planted soft kisses on them.

Leba squealed in delight and he felt a hand on the back of his head pushing desperately, his lips moved and parted, taking hers with them, allowing him to slide his tongue between them, "Oh, by the great tree!!" Leba squealed loudly as his warm tongue invaded her sweet tasting feminine flesh, well, this had given the smallest member of the pile an idea because no sooner had his tongue invaded Leba then he felt a little wispy one tickling along his throbbing and pulsing shaft which until now had been reveling in the mass of squirming coils moving all around it.

The wispy tongue suddenly tightened and coiled around his shaft, guiding it and before his brain comprehended what was happening he felt his tip being kissed and then swallowed whole, his entire length vanished into Sev's mouth and he felt the suction upon it as well as the fine control she had on her tongue as she used it to pump the shaft, forcing his foreskin to fully retract.

Liam's mind was utterly overwhelmed, he felt hands clawing all over his skin, he felt the incredible pleasure of Sev's mouth sucking on him, sealing him inside and trying to draw his essence out of him, he tasted the sweetness of Leba's insides and the tightness of her fleshy inner walls trying to draw his tongue into her depths, he felt the tight delights of both Celia's and Veme's two hidden treasures sucking and drawing on his digits as he swirled them around inside their bodies, touching them in places they'd never been touched and that's when his toes found something soft and slimy all the way at the bottom of him and when they rubbed it Sev moaned onto his manhood, sending vibrations that nearly broke his brain along his shaft.

Somehow it was like nature herself synced the five of them up, each and every movement made the mass writhe and mewl and moan, every twitch of finger, toe or tongue added another note to the delightful organic music that they began to make together but then starting with Leba a cascade began, she screamed in pure ecstacy and his mouth was flooded with sweetness that he desperately tried to swallow, along his right hand another explosion happened and then one on his left too, making his entire torso vibrate which lead to a mind blanking flash of pleasure from his own flesh as an explosion of pleasure ripped through him, sending jet after jet of his essence right down Sev's greedy throat.

It also had the effect of making his toes curl and sending an explosion up his leg and as one the whole mass shuddered and shook as wave upon wave of mind bending pleasure ripped through all of them.

Eventually it subsided and the whole mass just lay still except for the heavy panting and breathing, slowly the four girls unwound themselves from around him, leaving him laid flat on top of their tails, laying in a compass shape on their heated mattress all gulping down breath.

Celia was the first to break the silence, "Free Dream Warrior is definitely better," she gasped, and Leba chuckled softly, her voice sounding giddy.

"I second that," she said.

A hand rose up, "I third it," Veme said.

"Forthed," Sev panted, sounding like she was licking her lips, judging by the wet smacking sounds.

"Fifthed," Liam said, and all together they started laughing before the four of them slithered they're top halves over to rest their heads along his torso and on each of his thighs, he had Celia laid on his upper chest gazing at him lovingly, while Leba laid on his belly with her hood retracted and Sev and Veme took a thigh each.

"I never in my wildest dreams thought that love could feel so primal and so utterly natural while still so right," she said, and Liam smiled and nodded.

"I agree, everything just felt so right, so organic," he said.

"I want Celia to go first, she found us this skin covered angel, it's only right she goes first," Leba said.

"Seconded," Sev said.

"Thirded," Veme said, and both Celia and Liam looked at one another and chuckled together as he stroked her face, relishing her smooth scales and her beautiful face.

"I guess that's that then, the vote is cast," Liam said with a grin as he stroked the smooth scales of Celia's beautiful face, she leaned into his hand and smiled warmly at him, her tongue flickering and tickling his face as it brushed his cheek.

"I'm both glad and honored to be your first," she whispered softly, and he planted a soft kiss on her scaly snout.

"As I am yours," Liam said softly, then his curiosity got the better of him."So, err, how do we do this?" He asked, and she smiled.

"We have a saying here, the brightest flower finds a way to bloom in the most barren of deserts, so give it a chance and love will do the same," she said, genty coiling herself around him, her tail wrapped his legs together but not tight enough to worry him, this was more like making herself comfortable than gentle restraint, but the ease by which she did it betrayed her boa heritage, it was obvious she liked being coiled around things, doubly so for the ones she loved, to her it wasn't taking something from them, for her it was being close as she could be to them and protecting them with her entire self, loving them that way too.

So this time Liam let her constrict him a little and she slid her large upper body onto his and pressed him down into the mattress and the mixture of sensations was utterly wonderful, the smoothness of her scales, the warmth of the heated mattress seeping into his back, normally he might have worried about overheating, but her body was leaching just enough of the heat from him to be comfortable.

As she placed her hands on his shoulders she pushed herself up and arched her incredibly flexible back, looking down at him, her bright golden eyes were filled with love and the still changing lights created a halo around her head, a sudden devilish idea swam into his mind.

"Are you comfortable, our male?' she asked softly, and he smiled, gripping her shoulders and with a slight nudge to his Dream warrior strength he rolled them both over so now she was laid on the heated mattress, rotating her tail like a cork screw so his legs remained bound in-between them.

"I'm just fine," he purred softly, looking down into her surprised eyes, it was obvious that she kept forgetting just how strong he was, but this wasn't just a display of strength, there was something he had always dreamed of trying when he found his truest love, something that had warmed his most intimate of dreams and now was definitely the time to try it, but in order for it to work he had to unleash the emotions that allowed the power to flow through him.

Liam leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and he felt her tongue slip into his mouth and wound itself around his tongue he gently began to rub his warm skin against her smooth, soft scales, the scales of her belly rubbed against his skin, sliding smoothly over it, his throbbing manhood was trapped between his hot flesh and her cool scales, "I can feel your heart beating, it's so beautiful, it's like hearing the rythm of my love, like feeling it in my very bones," Celia said in a husky voice.

The pair were so utterly engrossed in one another that neither of them were aware of the other three watching them intently, each of them eagerly awaiting the time when it would be her turn to feel her male shower her with his love and attention and so she cold shower him with hers.

"I want you so badly Liam, I need this, I need you," Celia breathed heavily, he could feel her powerful heart hammering inside her, sending powerful vibrations through his entire body as it pulsed through her coils, Liam's body writhed and moved against her and suddenly he felt something slick against his manhood coating him with cool slime, he looked into her eyes and she smiled.

"I never thought I'd ever say these words because of what they mean to a proud female to say, but I find myself proud to say them to you because you don't seek to take my strength from me just as I would never try to take yours from you, so let's be each others strength and take me, our male," Celia said, her husky voice filled with burning need and pure want.

Liam had never felt happier in his life, she understood, she had understood him and his intentions, slowly with very precise movements he lowered his body in her coils just enough that he felt his super sensitive glans brush against her super soft scaly lips, he felt his tip part them to feel the cool, soft feminine flesh hidden between those lips, Celia gasped as she felt it too.

Both of them wanted this, to be one, to feel so utterly complete and together, "You ready?" He whispered, and she nodded her big scaly head, her eyes never leaving his as he began to push his hips slowly forwards, trying to go as slow as possible not to tease her, well, ok, maybe he was trying to tease her just a little, but mainly he wanted to make sure he didn't hurt her, he didn't know if she had a hymen and according to the way they'd reacted their boys were smaller than he was in that area.

But it seemed that Celia had other ideas about that, because just as Liam's wide flared tip breached her he barely had time to utterly relish the feeling of her liquid silk like cool flesh molding itself around him before she thrust her lower body into his that made her scales slap against his felt with a wet sounding slap.

The entirety of Liam's length from tip to root speared its way into her cool flesh, her slickness offered no resistance whatsoever and instantly he felt that her internal muscles were just as powerful and strong as her outer ones, she literally sucked him in and held him there, gripping him as tight as a fleshy vice, one other thing he noticed was that his manhood seemed to pass through a series of tight rings like her entrance that helped hold him inside her.

"Ohhhhh, by the Great Treeeee!!" Celia moaned loudly.

"Is it good sister?" Leba asked, her voice sounding husky and desperate.

"Does he feel good?" Sev asked.

"Does she feel good, our male?" Vema asked.

Both of them nodded and in perfect unison they said, "Perfect, it feels perfect."

Then like someone flipped a switch in both their brains at the same time the pair of them began to move together in unison, Celia was moving against him, tightening and relaxing her coils in time with his movements to ensure each and every thrust was as deep as it would go, "So warm! You're so warm our, beautiful male, it's like having a core of pure heat inside me and I can feel your heart beating through it, it's heaven, I'm in heaven!" she exclaimed in pure pleasure.

That's when Liam felt it, he felt his power begin to ebb and flow like rivers feeding from a central pool inside his heart, "H-H-he's glowing! Our male is glowing!" Sev said, and the three of the others leaned back to watch as Liam's hair began to sparkle, little crackles and arcs of energy jumping from strand to strand as a golden and blue glow began to emerge, his eyes lit up with the same energy and then just like that they were floating.

"I'm flying! I feel like I'm flying!" Celia moaned in pure ecstacy, and Liam smiled at her as he continued his thrusting.

"You actually are flying, sister!" Leba exclaimed.

"This is incredible! If I wasn't so utterly desperate to feel what she's feeling right now I'd grab my tablet and start taking notes," Veme said, Leba snapped her head to look at her and her hood flared right out.

"Don't you dare!" she snapped, her voice angrier than she'd meant it to sound and Veme looked at her, startled.

Leba forced her hood to retract and her tongue flickered, "This is something beautiful, something sacred, something magical and it's just for us, this is one of the true beauties of our male and he shares it with us, the truth of the secrets of his heart and they are for us to share and no one else, this is for us, just for us, just as he himself is," she said, and both Sev and Veme nodded in unison, they suddenly understood just what they had, all for them and no one else.

Celia and Liam floated in the centre of the room, suspended in the air by the power of their love, she was coiled completely around him now from toes to hair, touching every part of him, their bodies writhed and undulated as their passion grew, those rings of hard flesh or cartilage were squeezing and milking Liam's manhood with every thrust, hell, with the way her insides moved over him he didn't even need to thrust, he could have remained utterly motionless and her insides would have done all the work, but he wanted to give her every single drop of pleasure he could, he could feel his balls slapping against her scales with every move and soon they began to pulse and he knew what was happening.

"C-Celia I-I-I'm close, so close," he gasped, and she nodded, her eyes bright and utterly brimming with pleasure and love, it was like looking into the heart of the universe looking into those beautiful eyes.

"Me too, our male, me too, let's do it together and I want inside, don't you dare pull it out, I want to be a seeded female, if there is so much as a whisper of a chance that our love will bare further fruit for the Great Tree then I want it, it was by the Great Tree's divine wisdom and love that you were brought to us, to me, to save me and to love us, a beautiful alien from across the stars to love me and my sisters and we will honor it together," she said, panting heavily and he smiled so brightly, he never imagined a woman telling him she wanted to bare his children would have such an emotional effect on him but it did, then that's when it happened, together in perfect unison they exploded as one.

"Soooooo warmmmmmmm!!" Celia yelled as his seed exploded into her pulsing womb, those rings tightened, creating a water tight seal that stopped anything leaking back down, but they also squeezed him in a rippling movement, squeezing every single drop from him that she could get.

Once the waves slowly ebbed out Liam's power lowered them both back to the mattress and instantly her three sisters crowded in, they obviously wanted to be part of this moment and Liam utterly welcomed it, as they wound themselves into the knot he embraced and kissed each one of them while still buried inside of Celia.

After a brief refractory period which thanks to those rings of sweet flesh inside Celia he didn't lose his erection and in an truly incredible display of flexibility that he couldn't have experienced with any other species Celia moved out from under him and he was rotated, his manhood leaving her body before he was once again wrapped by another, this time Leba who grabbed him and drew him into a loving, deep kiss.

"Stroke my hood, pease, I utterly love it when you do that, and use both hands," she said softly, flaring it for him.

"With pleasure, my little love cobra," he said, making her smile as both his hands wormed their way up through the coils, emerging next to her head, as they did her sisters unwound themselves from the hug and while both Veme and Sev sat and watched in fascination and anticipation Celia laid sprawled out and basking in her afterglow on the heated mattress with the biggest smile on her face.

Liam's hand began to rub the outer edges of Leba's hood amd she growled and hissed softly, relishing the pleasure, "You made love to my sister and your love made her fly, now I'm going to make love to you, our male, and my love is going to make you fly," Leba said huskily, and before he could say a word in response he felt her hand slip between her coils and guide him into position before with a twist that put him on his back he slipped right back into heaven.

Leba's flesh was every bit as heavenly as her sister's but she also felt different, her internal muscles weren't as stong as Celia, he guessed because her body wasn't meant for coiling, it was meant for striking, but that's where she came into her own, because she could tense at his tip and send a lightning strike down his shaft, each and every one made him squeal and moan in pleasure as she was atop him rippling along his entire body.

He went from just stroking her hood to kissing it and nibbling along the sensitive edges, making her moan and gasp as his tongue caressed her smooth scales, as he did he felt her move in and nibble his neck and sucking kiss it, no fangs, just lips, super soft smooth lips.

Liam's power lifted them again as their love began to flow between them just like it had between him and Celia, but rather than rotate her he left her atop him, it was making her happy making love to him and her happiness was important to him, all of their happiness was, he knew in every fibre of his heart that he would do everything and anything to make these girls happy, his pack, his loves.

Leba's delicious, cool insides worked like a balm on his manhood, it was deliciously ironic, he should have been too sensitive to carry on really but because of the way their flesh cooled him and leached heat from him it reduced the sensitivity just enough for the purest of pleasure to be achieved between them, it was like the Great Tree who made them had a plan for when they met a boy not of their race who would have blood as hot as fire to make it work between them, to make it so that he could share his love equally between each of them and not favor one over the other, but also so he could love them all in one night, to sate all of these incredible women as they strove to sate him.

Leba's body began to undulate fast and faster as she drew nearer and nearer to her climax and he utterly loved watching her, he couldn't tear his eyes away from this sexy, beautiful, incredibly intelligent cobra girl as she got her very first taste of the truth of love, of the utter inexplicable mind wiping power of purest passion and desire, a power of pure instinct and he watched her brilliant mind struggling to make sense of it, the way her eyes rolled as she struggled to maintain focus and he leaned in and nibbled her hood, "Don't fight it, my sexy dancing cobra, just surrender to it just like it begs you to, accept it," he said, and as he said it she did it and like a bomb going off inside her she tightened her coils, clinging to him and once again he found himself being milked of his joy.

Only moments later Leba was sprawled out on the mattress next to Celia, "He's really something, isn't he? This beautiful space male of ours," Celia said, looking at her panting sister.

"I-I-I don't have the words for him, only one seemed even close to how I feel and how he is and that's perfect," Leba said.

"I'm not perfect, Leba, but love is," Liam said.

"Oh, I think we'll have to disagree on that one our male, from where I am you look utterly perfect," Veme said, striking at him like a lighting bolt and coiling herself around him, but this time he spun and shifted, planting a knee on either side of her hips and pushing her into a deep kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth dancing with hers, he was thanking Paya for his Dream Warrior stamina right at this moment, he felt her tail coiling around him, slipping between his legs and gripping him tightly, "Take me, our male, show me your heart like you've shown my sisters," Vema said breathlessly.

"Thought you'd never ask," he growled softly, nipping along her cute snout with his teeth and making her shiver with pleasure, he entered her swiftly and was surprised by how different she felt, she didn't have rings like the others but rather a series of little fleshy valves that made it feel like she had three vaginas within her, they utterly trapped him as his tip seemed to push open something which locked it in place, he couldn't pull out of her but then he didn't want to either.

It was like her inner walls moved like the ribs she used to get around, they moved up and down his length, stroking him from within, it was like having a hand job, oral and love making all rolled into one, her flesh swirled around his tip, lighting his nerves up like they were on fire, all of them so similar but all so different, so deliciously different.

Soon enough Veme joined her sisters in the pile of after glow and that only left little Sev left to have a roll with him, she was smiling at him brightly as she slithered onto him, "The Great Tree blessed you with incredible stamina, our male, I never imagined we'd all get to have our first times together like this," she said, leaning her upper body on his, kissing up his sweat drenched chest, letting her little tongue tickle along his flesh, tasting his sweat and relishing his flavor and his scent all in one.

"Sorry, hun, the Great Tree didn't make me, this is the handy work of our Lady Paya, the great huntress of the Yautja," he said, and she smiled.

"Well, whichever deity made you, I and my sisters will be forever grateful to them, they made us a living, breathing angel and sent him across the stars to save our lives and our hearts, in the vast cold darkness of space you found and saved our beloved sister and brought her back to where she belongs, the waiting arms of her pack and she brought with her the love that she'd captured for us, now we get to share our hearts with you and to wrap you up where you belong, in our arms and our coils," she said, and then to his utter surprise she hoisted him off the ground, holding him dangling in the air, "I don't need to fly to know my love for you is strong, my heart, my kind climb and we never fall, nor do we ever let go," she said, and with that she positioned herself and using her coils pushed him inside.

Now it appeared that for some reason her genus did have a hymen, but other than a sharp shiver as he pierced it she never broke her eye contact with him, in this position he kinda felt like he was sat in a rope swing, she'd positioned herself between his parted legs, he wrapped her arms around his body and he wrapped his around her neck, the pair locked into a loving and deep kiss as that liquid coolness enveloped him, she was a lot tighter than her sisters, though how that was possible he could only guess, it was like their flesh had actually joined, he felt her pulses in him and she felt his in her, like two hearts beating in perfect sync, they moaned and wailed into each others mouths, thanks to the four orgasms he'd already had it took Liam a lot longer than before as he was pretty much wrung dry already.

But that didn't deter his little green scaled lover, nor did the two utterly mind bending orgasms he gave her during the time they were joined, but finally the heaven overwhelmed them both and with a cry of the purest pleasure imaginable the pair blew as one like a volcano of hot joy going off inside her and causing Sev to tighten her coils to hold him deep, the pair collapsed onto the mattress, bouncing as they did and no sooner had they come to rest than the other three slithered into the pile and all four wound around him with him at the centre, a cocoon of cool scale and hot love.

"I agree with your words, Leba, he's perfect, utterly perfect," Sev panted.

"Told you," Leba said as she nestled her snout against his chest as both his shoulders already had a snout wedged into them, sleep wasn't far away and Liam had never felt so exhausted in his life, hell, Seeker training had nothing on loving these girls, but this fatigue was pure and it was welcomed, so that's how sleep claimed him that night, surrounded by scales, coiled in happiness and bathed in a love so pure he knew at the very core of his being that he would die a thousand deaths just for the chance to protect it, to protect them, this was his pack now and no matter what they were loved and they were protected, finally Liam understood Jack Mason, the mighty legend utterly made sense to him now because this was how he felt every time he lay his head down and looked into his wife's loving eyes and every time he opened them in the morning to her still sleeping face, this was love and it was more than worth dying for.


	11. Chapter 11

Ladies and gentlemen GhostNobody here wishing you all Nadolig llawen or in English Happy Christmas  
If you don't celebrate Christmas let me just say happy holidays one and all its midnight here and Santa Ghost and his loyal elf Hybrid Chimera are proud to bring you this little stocking filler to hopefully get your Christmas day off to a good start.  
This day is all about family and sharing our love with the ones we love most and I hope you all are able to have those closest to you gathered around you and if not thanks to this bloody virus, I hope that they are safe and well.  
To me you are all like my extended family and I'm sending out my live to each and every one of you because after the year we've had we could all use all the love and cheer we can get.  
So with one big thank you this is GhostNobody signing off and saying on with the show......

Hybrid Chapter 11: Morning After.

"Oh, don't worry, Ciri, Liam is a consummate professional, I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation as to why he and the ambassador's pack are not answering their communicators, I'm..........oh," Jack Mason's voice seemed to slide into Liam's dreams like it was drifting across a vast expanse.

But suddenly a roar that invokes a reaction in any solider whether they like it or not like a muscle memory that flips a switch hit him, "Seeker, ATENSHUN!!!" Jack's voice roared, and Liam's body moved before his mind had even connected to it and he burst out of the pile of coils that he seemed to be wrapped in and snapped to attention.

"Seeker Liam Silver Mason reporting!!" he snapped in his crispest parade voice, that's when his mind woke up and reconnected to his body and he found himself staring at a rather amused looking Jack Mason and a rather surprised and curious looking Regent Ciri.

Behind Ciri were the other members of the royal pack and they were peeking around her each with an equally surprised and curious expression and he was seeing a lot of curious flicking tongues, that's when his mind fully caught up and he realized that the cool, refreshing breeze on his nethers wasn't an illusion, he was as naked as the day he was born, before royalty.

"Umm, permission to restore some sliver of my dignity, Grand Patriarch," Liam said, Jack's smile widened and he nodded.

"Granted, Seeker," he said, and Liam grabbed his under suit which had been discarded to one side by the girls when they'd pulled it off him last night and he wrapped it around his waist like a skirt to cover some part of his nudity, from the large multicolored pile of coiled scales to his right a rather sleepy looking cobra head popped up, her tongue flickering away.

"What's with all the shouting and noise.........REGENT!!!!" Leba exclaimed, her hood nearly becoming a pair of wings strapped to the side of her head and neck.

Suddenly there were three equally loud shrieks as Leba's scream woke the others up and they realized what was going on and the four of them wound together so tightly to cover their nakedness that they turned themselves into a giant ball of scales in the centre of their heated bed.

"Ummm, forgive our intrusion on your private time and sanctuary, ladies, we became concerned when Seeker Silver wasn't answering his communicator and despite the Grand Patriarch's protests that his Seeker was fine I insisted we came to check on you to make sure assassins hadn't broken into the palace in the night and caused you harm," Ciri said.

"We're fine my lady, honestly," Celia's muffled voice came from the embarrassed ball of coils in the centre of the bed that hid the four very naked Serpentinus girls, that's when Liam realized that none of them had shut off the song the girls had performed their dance to last night and that's also when Ciri noticed as well.

"Oh my goodness! Your heart dance! That's your heart dance music! I had no idea your relationship had gone so far so fast! Oh my goodness, we're intruding on something very private, come, my sisters, we must leave, no pack should have their first morning with their newest pack member interrupted like this!" Ciri exclaimed, and she nearly dragged the rest of her curious pack who were all gazing at Liam a little too closely away.

Liam turned to Jack Mason who was still smiling wryly at him, "I suddenly find myself rather glad that I didn't double down my bet with my wife, but we do need you on deck as soon as possible, we got a lot of important things to go over, ok?" he said, and Liam nodded.

"So, this heart dance thing like their version of marriage?" Jack asked, and Liam nodded again, still silent as Jack smiled, realizing that he'd obviously accepted.

Jack turned to go but just as he was about to he glanced over his shoulder, his bright blue eyes sparkling, "You did your Clan proud, kid, just like I always knew you would, you made me proud of you, now do the same for them, you treat them right, all or nothing, you hear me?" Jack said, and Liam snapped to attention again.

"Sir, yes, sir, Grand Patriarch!" Liam snapped, and Jack nodded, waving his hand over his shoulder, leaving Liam and his new pack alone in the bedroom and no sooner had he gone and the door slammed loud enough to warn them it was safe to come out of their ball four heads peeked out of the coil ball.

"Well, that was, umm, awkward, not exactly the way I imagined my first morning of marriage to go, not that I exactly planned to be married to more than one person either, but hey, I'm definitely not complaining," so, how do you girls like your eggs?" Liam asked, trying to defuse the tension somewhat as it was obvious that the girls were somewhat distraught having been found naked in bed with their alien male, by their queen of all people.

Slowly the four of them unwound from one another and the ball became four beautiful women again, "Well, I gotta say, I never imagined sleeping in a living breathing ball of scales but I honestly couldn't be happier, well, apart from the royal alarm clock, but hey, rough with the smooth, right? And it doesn't get much smoother than you girls," Liam said, moving over to them and reaching up and stroking both Celia's smooth diamond scaled head, relishing the glass smooth and coolness of her scales while also caressing Leba's sensitive hood.

As he did that Sev and Veme moved in and wound themselves around him from two different directions, making him wonder if they were going to add a bow to the wrapping, but their cool scales made him shiver, "We never knew that love was this beautiful or that it would come to us in the form of a hot blooded mammal, but Celia was utterly right when she described you as the most perfect male she had ever seen, she told us that your heart just seemed to glow, well, you sure proved that to us last night, you loved us so openly and freely and bodily," Veme said, tickling his ear with her tongue.

This time Liam acted on that instinct he'd had last night, turning his head and activating his abilities at just the right time, time seemed to slow right down and Veme's tongue began to wave at him in slow motion just an inch from his face, as quick as a flash he moved his head and used his lips to trap it and coiled his own around it as best he could before drawing it into his mouth properly, relishing her taste as her almost minty flavor saliva coated his tongue.

"He caught Veme's tongue mid smell!" Sev exclaimed as Liam and Veme were locked in mid snog, around him he felt Veme's coils tighten briefly before melting like butter around him, suddenly there were three more of them flickering around him and he got the feeling that they were all hoping to be caught just like Veme's, so he obliged them, as he released Veme who kinda looked like she'd gone into a trance.

"I....I...I, oh my," Veme said, her eyes all dilated and unfocused.

"I want that!" Celia exclaimed, and as she was speaking Liam kicked his abilities into high gear, making his eyes light right up and the air around him crackled with electricity and time slowed to an absolute crawl, even though he was still restrained he managed to reach out and grab Celia's tongue, winding it into his mouth while it was moving super slowly in his mouth he pretty much licked it clean of her saliva and replaced it with his before doing the exact same thing to Leba and Sev.

Then with a flash the three of them flickered like their senses overloaded and their eyes dilated into utterly lost bliss, "Oh, wow, I don't even know or care how he did that but I want this every day of my life," Sev exclaimed.

Liam pulled an arm free of the coils entwining him and stroked her face gently, "And you shall have it, my little tree climbing emerald scaled lover," he said softly, planting a tender kiss on the tip of her snout which she immediately tried to taste with her little pink tongue.

"Alright, girls, time to get up, I think I gotta go to work," Liam said softly, kissing each of them on the snout one after the other and he felt their coils tighten slightly before they all slithered from around him, letting him stand up right on his own feet and that's when an odd rush of cold air hit his skin, he'd just been wrapped in cold coils but now he was free he somehow colder, well, except for his feet, standing on the heated mattress they were toasty warm.

"He's right, my sisters, and besides, we need to go bask or we're going to be utterly useless this morning," Celia said, stretching herself and treating Liam to an utterly sublime view as he watched all those strong muscles bunch and ripple under her scales, though if he thought tearing his eyes away from one beautiful naked Serpentinus female was tough four of them was a near impossible task for a newly formed scale loving hot blooded human.

"Wait, you guys have to bask in the morning?" Liam asked, and Celia smiled and gestured with her hand to another door on the other side of the bedroom which until now Liam hadn't even noticed.

It was made to look like part of the wall and Leba pressed a switch, making the whole thing slide upwards to reveal a room made to look almost like a desert scene with a painted golden yellow floor made to resemble sand and painted walls made to resemble a perspective gazing off into the distance, whoever had painted it was a very talented artist, Liam got the feeling he should introduce them to h'chak.

In the centre of the room were four large slate slabs cut to resemble the kind of random rocks you'd see in the desert just lying around but Liam's incredibly sharp eyes easily picked out the tool marks on them, they also picked out the girl's names carved into the rock.

Each of the girls apparently had their own rock and as he watched them they slithered over and onto the rock with their names on them before laying down and stretching themselves out, as Leba laid down on her front she arched her back and then wiggled around to make herself comfortable and Liam was presented with an utterly hypnotic view of her buttocks wiggling and swaying as she tried to get comfortable, suddenly he realized that his make shift modesty hider was not going to be enough if he stayed here any longer but his curiosity was burning.

"You guys have to bask every morning?" he asked, and they all glanced at him and nodded.

"Yeah, the lamps in the ceiling are designed to reproduce the sun's UV rays perfectly along with a generous helping of infra red to warm us up and give us energy, just one of the joys of being cold blooded I guess," Veme said.

"So why do you have names on your rocks?" he asked as he processed this info, it was something that would be important to remember when it came to them visiting his home or if they ever moved there with him.

"Oh, because queen blue pillow whore over there wanted her favorite rock all the time, so we decided rather than argue we'd each pick a favorite basking rock and mark them, then it would always be just ours," Celia said playfully, teasing her sister who glared at her and fanned her hood at her.

"I am not a queen pillow whore!!" Leba exclaimed angrily, and Liam got an idea, winking and little Sev playfully while mouthing 'Watch this' silently.

"Oh, awesome, well, that blue pillow does look comfy since you offered I guess I'll go take a quick sit down before I take a shower, I just hope I don't smell too badly of you girls, I mean, you don't sweat but boy do you girls get wet when you get going," Liam said, turning to leave.

Leba was on him before he'd even taken a single step, "Noooo! Not that!!" she screamed, wrapping him up tightly, her face full of panic and her hood at full mast, Liam raised a single eyebrow.

"Pillow whore," he said with a grin as her hood twitched with embarrassment as she realized she'd been tricked as her sisters rolled around on their rocks and laughed themselves silly. 

But he kissed the tip of her snout softly, relishing the feel of her now surprisingly warm front scales and he guessed that the rocks were meant to reflect the heat into the girls as they lay on them, warming them from both sides at once.

"But you my big queen pillow whore and I don't love you any less, and hey, I suppose I could always just sit on you now couldn't I?" he said playfully, stroking and kissing her hood, making her shiver.

"Just my luck I had to fall in love with a joker, a mammal joker, the worst kind of joker," Leba said, making Liam grin and chuckle.

"Oh, we mammals are the best kind of jokers my little pillow whore, just wait 'till you wake up and find you and Sev have the same color scales and a snazzy new pair of bushy eyebrows along with a sharp new top hat," he said, giving her a sly smile.

"You wouldn't dare," Leba said, tightening her grip on him and making him laugh harder before giving her a look that make his eyes sparkle.

"I think you'd look snazzy in a top hat or with a monocle," he said.

"And I think you'd look snazzy with a shaved head, all nice and smooth and shiny," Leba shot back as she now realized he was just playing with her, making him roar with laughter.

Suddenly Celia howled like she'd been shot and slithered into the wrap, also entwining Liam in her coils, "Noooo, you leave our male's fur alone! No one is taking the joy of running my fingers through that silk soft fur away from me!" she howled, hugging his head in-between her now deliciously warm breasts, letting those scale covered sacks of feminine flesh spill over his shoulders as she hugged him and burying her snout in in his hair, tickling his scalp as she did her equivalent of huffing down lungfuls of his scent.

Liam slid his hands between the coils and found a glorious pair of scalie orbs to squeeze and upon gripping a handful he realized he had hold of Leba's rear end by the soft hiss and gasp she let out in his ear, so while Celia was still huffing his hair he leaned up and allowed Leba to draw him into a deep, passionate kiss, letting her little tongue tickle its way around the inside of his mouth, tickling its way over every one of his teeth and all along the inside of his cheeks.

His tongue slipped into her mouth and began to polish the two fangs running along the roof of her mouth, making her shiver now, it was obvious she loved having her fangs tasted like this as it was an incredibly intimate thing to do and he guessed that to a Cobra genus her fangs were as sacred as her hood and maybe even a little sensitive.

When they parted from their kiss she was smiling warmly, "I love you so so much, our little mammal husband," she hissed softly.

"As I love you, my sensitive little cobra, now, if you would, girls, I'd better go shower and you two had better get to basking, don't want you to be utterly useless today or I may just have to find other ways to inject a little loving warmth into you," he purred softly, making both of them quiver.

"Oh, such wonderful promises," Leba said before both of them unwound from around him and they slithered their way back onto their basking rocks while he staggered his way to the showers, still picturing those two delicious, sexy, wiggling scaly behinds as the sun lamps caught them on the rocks.

Suddenly he was glad he wasn't wearing his armor or by now the door would be going in and screeching Battle Angels would be filling the place, hissing and screeching about dangerous blood pressure levels.

Liam thought about having himself a cold shower to take the edge off but he figured against it and decided to heat his sore muscles up, he hadn't been aware just how much he was aching 'till the watcher hit him and he cramped up almost immediately so he turned the dials 'till the water jets hitting him began to wring the tension out of him.

As he stood there lathering his naked body he remembered being in here with Celia, the feel of her coils winding around him, of her hands exploring his flesh both sensually and very curiously, of doing the same to her of running his hands over those glass smooth scales, those powerful muscles, those incredibly feminine assets, suddenly he was seriously glad he wasn't wearing his armor.

After his shower Liam put his gear back on, including his armor, once he engaged the mask the missed messages popped up in his HUD transfered from the wrist comp after exiting privacy mode, all from Jack and the other Seekers trying to get hold of him.

The Clan Mason Intranet worked through a series of relays that each of their suits had along with the ships, it allowed it to broadcast over a wide area, having access to both real time voice comms and burst type data packets for text and image messages, he had about eight now all asking where he was and why he wasn't answering, mostly from Jack but a couple from both Ryan and Analise asking where he was and if he was ok, then a joke from Ryan asking if he needed them to bring down some protection from the Dreamer, well, it was a bit late for that now.

Suddenly an incoming transmission came in broad spectrum from the Dreamer, "This is Hunter one one to all Guardian Core ground units, the Scalathor ships have entered the system, we are moving to intercept, all ground units move to red alert and be prepared to repel any fast moving ground assault pods that might try to break past us and land, Hunter one one out," Tik eleth said.

Instantly Jack's voice came over the comms next, "Seeker one one to all Seeker units, gather in the main atrium of the palace, I'm setting up a QRF, all Hunter teams set up a perimeter and be ready to respond to any and all threats, all Savior and Battle Angel teams keep doing what you're doing, let's get this planet's defences online as fast as possible, Seeker one one out," Jack said, and before Liam could tap his acknowledgement command his private comms lit up.

"Seeker one one to Seeker one two, come in," Jack's voice came through the speaker in his helmet.

"Seeker one two receiving, go ahead," Liam responded.

"Ahh, good, you finally untangled yourself from the Serpentinus girls, where is your pack right now? Over," Jack said.

"They are in their quarters basking, their species need sunlight to warm their blood in the morning, they're cold blooded, over," Liam replied.

"No wonder the fucking Scalathor decided to attack at this particular time, they knew the Serpentinus would be doing their morning bask and would be distracted, ok, gather your pack together along with the royal pack in the conference room and sit on them, I don't want anyone getting close, the royal guards will be joining you, keep them safe until we are sure this is all over and the threat is passed, Seeker one one over and out," Jack said.

"Roger that, Seeker one two out," Liam said, and with that he headed back to the girl's basking room.

"Alright, girls, sorry to interrupt your basking time but the Scalathor have entered the system, we need to gather you guys and the royal pack together in the conference room so get those cute rear ends of yours in gear and get dressed," Liam said, watching the four of them lift their heads from their basking rocks to look at him, looks of concerns passing over their pretty faces.

"The Scalathor are back?" Leba asked, and Liam nodded.

"Yes, but don't worry, the Guardian Core will protect you, but I need you all up and dressed quickly, please, ladies," he said, and quick as a flash the four of them slithered quickly back into their bedroom and dressed themselves, ready before Liam moved them to the conference room where the royal guards brought the royal pack along with the Regent.

"Their reinforcements have arrived?" Ciri asked, and Liam nodded.

"Yes, my lady, the Dreamer and our fleet are moving to intercept them as we speak, this is just a precaution, the Seekers are setting up defences here to hold the palace in case of attack and the Hunters are forming battle lines as a perimeter around the palace to protect it, our Battle Angels and Saviors are out in the city working to protect the people, so please don't fear, my lady, the Guardian Core has everything well in hand," Liam said confidently.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Three frigates on approach, Grand Matriarch, they have their weapons powered and defensive systems up," the weapons officer, a young human male called Richard said, turning his blonde head to look at her with expectant eyes.

"Send comms to the fleet, move to block their path to the planet and open a hailing frequency, run it through the translation matrix with what we have decrypted of the Scalathor language," Tik said, her tone authoritive and calm.

"Yes, Grand Matriarch! Channel open and the algorithm is running," the comms officer, a young Yautja female called Qunara said.

"This is Grand Matriarch Tik eleth Mason of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, this planet and its people are under our protection, if you do not stop your advance towards their sovereign territory we will fire on you and take it from your already dead colleagues, you do not want to pick a fight with us, it is not one you will win," Tik said, her voice calm, collected and controlled but also full of aggression.

"They have dead stopped, Grand Matriarch, and they are fanning out, they're weapons appear to be targeting us, no indication that they have noticed the rest of the fleet yet," Richard said, and Tik nodded.

"Incoming message, Grand Matriarch audio and visual," Qunara said.

"Put it up," Tik said, and suddenly the large screen at the front of the bridge flickered to life with lines of static which rapidly cleared and became the face of a Scalathor female, her scales were electric blue with traces of black running through them that kinda made it look like she was made of living lighting.

She had eyes almost as blue as her beloved Ack, but that's where the similarity ended as those eyes were angry and full of hate, "Who the fuck are you to tell us what we can and cannot do, Alien? This matter does not concern you so step aside and let us do as the Black seed commands!" the female said, the translator made a tinny echo of her voice which seemed to be very raspy and throaty.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen, you launch a cowardly, unprovoked attack on a peaceful people and you expect us to just stand aside and let it happen? No pauking way, you have two choices here, stand down and live or fight and die, that's it, your choice, but we will not stand aside and let the senseless slaughter of innocent people happen right in front of us, the Guardian core will fight to the death first," Tik snarled with so much passion that it radiated into those around her.

"You are out gunned three to one and you have the gall to stand there and tell me that not only will you defy the will of the Black Seed but that you will fight to the death for those cowards? Plus, just so you know, our intention is not to slaughter the innocent people of Serpentinus Prime, no, only the royal pack and their heirs must die, then we will simply find and take their Ghost Slitherers and bring them back to our Dark Seed, with all of them gone those sniveling serpents will come to know the power of the Dark Seed, they will see the truth finally and turn away from that weak and pathetic twig the so Called Great Tree, she preaches love and inclusion that we should weaken ourselves by changing our sacred traditions and move with the times, well, we say no! We have a new god now, a powerful god, one who has shown us the dangers of what will come when aliens arrive on our doorstep and the destruction they will bring with them, so now we revere the Dark Seed even more because here you are and now you will see the truth of what real power looks like! Now step aside, this is your final warning!" the Scalathor captain exclaimed darkly.

"All Guardian Core vessels report ready, Grand Matriarch, Hunter and Savior teams eight through twelve report ready along with Savior teams six through ten are standing by for your word," Qunara said.

Tik sighed heavily, she knew there would be no bargaining here, if there was one thing Tik knew probably better than anyone else in the entire of the Guardian Core it was the eyes of a fanatic, she'd seen them many times in her old clan, those who would have destroyed her beloved cub for merely existing, who would have destroyed her for choosing her own love for herself rather than blindly following their ideals of purity, no, there would be no reasoning with these people.

She pressed a button on the comms pannel on her seat, "So I see then that you will not listen to reason, so then I have only three words for you, surprise Matriarch pauker!" she said, flipping the switch to send the silent go code to the fleet, the whole time staring into the eyes of the Scalathor captain who looked both confused and surprised which morphed into deeper anger as she realized that it was a trap.

"It's a trap!!" she yelled into her ship's comms, but it was too late, the beauty of Yautja technology is their highly advanced stealth technology and cold running systems, so against the cold nothingness of space when Yautja ships were running in stealth they were utterly invisible from both the naked eye and all but the most highly advanced sensors, so the Scalathor were royally caught off guard when from nearly point blank range they were hit with a powerful barrage of plasma cannon fire that obilitarated their shields, coming apparently from nowhere before the Yautja ships decloaked all around them.

"Fire all guns on the lead ship!!" Tik roared, and Richard smiled darkly.

"With pleasure, Grand Matriarch!" he said, and the Dreamer's forward guns roared to life, sending a barrage of plasma and hyper speed tungsten death right at them.

"Boarding teams, green light I want those cruisers intact, you have your orders, both the engine room and the bridge secured, take prisoners if you can, if not, teach them to fear the Guardian Core so that the mere mention of our name sends fear through their fucking distant relatives!!" Tik eleth roared.

From the closest ships to the outer frigates a series of smaller ships detached themselves and sped straight over to the outer frigates, latching themselves onto the outer hatches of the frigates to begin cracking through their encryption or if need be cutting through while their parent ships took out the frigate's weapons from close range.

The lead frigate opened fire on the Dreamer and the frigates scrambled to try and break free of the Yautja ships but it was no use, their shells slammed into the fully charged shields of the Dreamer which while they felt it didn't do anywhere near enough damage to pose a risk, just gave them a nasty jolt.

"You will pay for this!! We may die this day but the Dark Seed will sprout and it will grow, mark my words, alien scum, and there's nothing you or your Pussy Tree loving friends can do to stop it!!' The Scalathor captain screamed with pure hate in her voice.

"Shut her the pauk up, permanently please," Tik said calmly.

"Roger that, Grand Matriarch, one special delivery of high velocity shut the fuck up on the way," Richard said, and with that the next shot from the Dreamer's mighty front guns punched right through the now utterly drained shields and straight through the frigate bridge window causing the image on the screen to flash and then vanish into blackness as the huge tungsten slug smashed its way through the bridge and deeper into the ships bowels.

Sure enough there were a series of secondary explosions from deep inside the ship but as that was happening Tik saw four small flashes from the side of the ship that streaked away towards the planet, at first she thought that they were escape pods until the sensors picked up that they weren't displaying any form of emergency beacon and each only had one occupant and then it clicked in her mind.

"Pauk! Drop pods!! Shoot them down!!" Tik roared, but the Dreamer, as powerful as she was, was too far away and even the much closer ships tried but the four pods danced and dodged around their plasma fire like flying dancers in space.

"Fuck, I can't get a lock! It's like they're predicting my fucking shots!!!!" Richard yelled in frustration as he kept firing at them, suddenly Tik's blood ran cold and she punched the comms quickly.

"Dreamer to all Guardian Core on the ground, you have inbound pods, believed to contain Nightmare Assassins, I repeat, inbound Nightmare Assassins! And I think they're hunting Dream Warriors!!" she yelled.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

On the ground Jack Mason's eyes narrowed as Tik's message boomed through his speakers, "Recived, Dreamer, we're on it, Seeker one one out," he said, and he turned to the other Seekers in the great hall with him along with their royal guard allies.

"Heads up, people, we have inbound Nightmare Assassins, count possibly four, I want this place locked down tighter than a mouse's arsehole who just got past his wife''s credit card bill for the month and for the Serpentinus among us that's fucking tight, not a single gap, if you see something you call it out, you do not try to take them on alone, if you see them you call for Seeker support immediately, am I understood?" he said.

He could see the royal guards all looking at each other questioningly, it was obvious to him that they were not used to taking orders from strangers and definitely not a male, "What's a Nightmare Assassin?" one of their officers finally asked, looking at him curiously, there was a note of arrogance in her voice, she was a rather large specimen of her species a white and cream scaled Boa.

Jack got the feeling that in order to get the Serpentinus too fall in line a demonstration was in order, "Seekers, disarm them," he said, and without a single seconds hesitation every Seeker in the room moved so fast they looked like a electric blur and suddenly the hundred or so royal guards suddenly found themselves standing there without weapons and in the centre of the room was a rather large pile of guns surrounded by seven Seekers.

"What in the name of the Great Tree!!? How did you do that!!?" the officer yelled loudly.

"Seekers, rearm them," Jack said, and once again the electric blurs began to move and as if nothing had happened each royal guard suddenly found they had a weapon in their hands again and they looked both confused and stunned.

"Ok, story time, ladies, so listen the fuck up, I'm only going to say this once......" he began, and with that he launched into an explanation of who and what Dream Warriors were which created a rainbow of expressions from shocked to scared, to clueless to surprised.

"Ghost Slitherers!! He's talking about Ghost Slitherers, you mean to say they are real!?" The officer exclaimed.

"If that's your word for a Dream Warrior then yes, here, let me show you," he said, and with that he reached up and touched her face before she could move and her eyes flashed to his color and her expression changed.

"B-B-By the Great Tree! Oh my Great Tree, it's beautiful!!" she exclaimed as he showed her the power of the Dream Warriors, her eyes flickered back to normal as he released her and she shook her head, her tongue flickering as she tried to clear her head.

"Yeah, it is, but Nightmare Assassins are most definitely not, they are the dark side of what we are, you've just seen a small glimmer of what we can do, now imagine that power used for evil and you have a Nightmare Assassin and you can be sure as hell they won't just take a gun out of your hands and leave you standing there looking like a fool, you'll be very lucky if they just kill you outright, they torture and torment for fun, they're greatest pleasure is destroying a soul from the inside out, leaving the person a gibbering burnt out husk with a head full of their worst nightmares for company," Jack said, and suddenly every shred of arrogance among the guards had evaporated like a fart in a tornado.

"Dream Warriors are rare and they spend most of their lives wondering and resenting the fact that they are different from everyone around them and never knowing why, why they were chosen to wield such power and living in fear of what will happen to them when and if the people around them discover that they possess such power, will they be killed through fear, kidnapped from their family and experimented on or dissected to find out if the process can be replicated, all sorts of things really, that fear and shame can drive them to madness or even worse, it's why Clan Mason has the Seekers of Truth, that's who we are, Dream Warriors trained and molded to not only accept who and what we are but to use it for good, we at the Seekers teach that we are not better than anyone else, simply different to them, we are given gifts the same as anyone, what defines us is how we use them," Jack said to the attentive Royal guards all flickering their tongues at him curiously.

"But how are we supposed to stop something that can move like you do, Grand Patriarch?" the officer asked.

"Dream Warriors or Nightmare Assassins are not invincible, just incredibly powerful, but we can be hurt or killed just like any of you, you just have to force them to make a mistake, in combat a Dream Warrior or Nightmare Assassin's greatest weapon is our speed, we move many times faster than you do, it allows us to perceive movements before they happen, but that can be exploited, dummying movements, or feints will throw us off, make us commit to an action that lead us into problems, attack them from all sides at once if possible and whatever you do, try not to let them get close," Jack said, marching back and forth along the line of troops like a drill sergeant.

He could feel the fear in the room and he looked at Ryan who nodded, Ryan stepped forward and he began to chant softly, "I am a child of Paya, the Great huntress of the Yautja, a child born of two worlds, of two peoples but of one love, I reach out now to the one called the Great Tree and I am humbled in your presence, please, Great Tree, let me calm the fears of your beloved children, let your strength flow through me and calm their hearts, give me the strength that I might give it to them, let it take root in me," he said, his eyes beginning to glow and a slow hum noise began to emanate from him as golden sparkling tentacles of light began to emerge from his chest.

As he began to chant the other Tamers joined in and strengthened the bond, feeding their energy into their leader and those golden tentacles reached out and touched every Serpentinus in the room, their eyes lit up and stared at invisible wonders flashing before their eyes, Nature's Stength was one of the most beautiful powers that the Tamers possessed, it used their connection to nature to fortify the hearts that they touched, the Soul Knights could do something very similar but the Tamer's version was less drastic and forceful.

It was an ability which quelled fear, encouraged hope and fortified strength, it literally raised the spirits of all it touched.

Ryan reached out and let the Great Tree touch the hearts of all of its children through him, using the power of his team to amplify the effects and to forge a stronger bond between them, Jack watched proudly as his beloved son brought hope and quelled the fears of the Royal guards, he gave them the courage they needed to fight for their loved ones and for their home, he showed them the beauty all around them and made them want to protect it with everything they had.

Once his son's ritual was complete Jack could feel the confidence washing off them now, "So what now? Do we just wait for the Nightmare Assassins to come here?" Ryan asked, and Jack shook his head.

"No, we spilt into two teams, I get the feeling they are going to do the same, Tik said there were four pods launched, that means potentially four Nightmare Assassins, she said something about them hunting Dream Warriors, now that could be just us or possibly the indigenous ones, so they will most likely spilt into two teams as well, two to come here and go for the Royal pack to seed chaos and the other two to hunt down and convert or kill the untrained indigenous ones, either way it's a whole world of bad so we have to find them first," Jack said.

"Ok, so how do you want to play this?" Ryan asked.

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, "You take control here, I'll go after them, I'll take Analise and Zed as well as Mav and Rita along with me, you keep the others here with you, Liam is guarding both the royal pack and his own up in the conference room and he'll our last line of defence and trust me, no one who's going to want to harm those girls is going to get anywhere near them with him there," Jack said, and Ryan smiled.

"So it happened then?" he said, and Jack laughed and nodded.

"Oh yeah, got the surprise of his life when me and Regent Ciri along with her whole pack kicked him and his new pack out of bed this morning, Serpentinus girls are rather funny when they're embarrassed, turn themselves into a giant living football, Liam not so much, he just stood bollock naked and salutes," Jack said, and both Analise and Ryan roared with laughter.

"Note to self, never let Liam live that down, though, Grand Patriarch, I must ask, was it his hand saluting?" Analise asked, making Ryan roar with laughter again and Jack just grinned.

"Let's just say I think he made the queen and her pack rather curious and somewhat jealous of Celia and hers," he replied, making both Analise and Ryan both laugh.

"Oh yeah, never living that down," Ryan said with a grin, all of them silently coming up with snake loving jokes.

"Well, alright, there's no time to lose, those pods will be making planet fall any moment, they won't waste a single second so neither shall we, so you three with me, the rest of you form up on my son and let's kick these fuckers back into the void they crawled out of, shall we?" Jack said, being met with a cheer from both the Seekers and the Royal guard.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Aboard the Dreamer the comms were going crazy, "Hunter eight one to Dreamer, we are breaching! Airlock defences are down and we are going in!!" Fera, the leader of Hunter team six yelled through the comms and this was swiftly followed by repeat calls from the other boarding teams.

"Dreamer to all breaching teams, roger that, do this by the numbers, secure the bridge and the engine rooms, Hunter teams, move as fast as you can, take prisoners if possible but if not don't let anyone slow you down, Savior teams, flood their systems with viruses, I want their comms crippled this time, they're not calling for help, Dreamer over and out," Tik said, and there were a chorus of replies.

The Hunter and Savior teams had trained for this, the Hunters would move fast, punching through the defence teams aboard the ships to contain and secure the control points of the vessels, namely the bridge and engine room and neutralising any resistance they met along the way with maximum aggression, the Saviors on the other hand, their job was two fold, first thing they would do would be to flood the ship's computer network with viruses that would cripple its internal defences and sensors as well as playing merry hell with other things like lights, these viruses were friendly in nature and could be turned on and off at will by the saviors electronic warfare experts, each team had one, the others were engineers who's job was to take control of the ship's systems when the Hunters cleared the hard points.

But Sela eleth's Saviors were warriors in their own right, granted they didn't have all the specialized combat training of either the Hunters or the Seekers but they could more than hold their own in a firefight and were just as heavily armed as the Hunter teams, their ranks also contained highly specialized soldier types like snipers who were not currently among the numbers aboard the frigates, they would be all but useless in that enviroment, but close quarters combat is really where the Hunters flourished.

Now the Guardian Core are not murderers, they would show quarter to any defenceless or helpless enemy they came across, or if they surrendered they would be taken into custody, as this was a rapid deployment they didn't have time to properly secure the ship, they'd simply hit them with a stun weapon which would render them unconsious for a couple of hours allowing them to be properly secured.

But just because the Guardian Core believed in mercy and the true rules of war did not mean for a single second that they would hesitate, thy would go right through anyone who stood in their way without a second thought, they would fight to the death to accomplish their mission and to uphold their principles but they also understood that not everyone was like them, that's where the mercy came in.

Tik eleth's pride was swelling in her chest as she watched the displays from the team's cameras, her Hunters were like her cubs, she had raised them up and trained them to fear no one, to always stand true and proud for their Clan, to defend it with all that they had and right now they were doing just as they had been trained to do, they were cutting right through the Scalathor like a hot knife through butter.

The lead Hunter was using an energy shield which blocked the narrow corridors as they moved firing over it with their plasma casters along with the two Hunters behind them while the last one in the stick walked backwards as a rear guard while the Saviors moved along with them.

In Perfect sync the teams on both ships burst into the ship's bridges and eliminated the crew, holding them while at the same time the secondary teams hit the engine rooms, being vary careful with their weapons fire, using stun grenades and gas to flush the rooms before entering to avoid any stray shots damaging something that could potentially blow the ship to kingdom come.

That's when the calls she'd been waiting for came through, "Ship secure, Grand Matriarch, we have control," in near perfect unison the Hunter team leaders called through.

"Roger that, good job, my Hunters, I am damn proud of you all of you," she said.

No sooner had the calls come through than the ships next to them latched on them and began sending control teams aboard that would secure any prisoners taken, though from what Tik had seen it had been been pretty much fight to the last woman over there, fanatics very rarely surrendered, but now they had two more frigates to add to their fleet and hopefully a whole world of intel for their analysts to sift through.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Dreamer to Seeker one, one skies are clear, my love, we took two of their frigates and destroyed their command ship, Dreamer out," Tik eleth said through the comms.

Jack looked out at the brilliant blue sky over the vast desert all around them, they were currently following two sets of foot prints from the pod crash sites, two had headed around them towards the city and he had warned his Seekers already, but these two seemed to be heading toward the mountains in the distance, they were hunting and that meant so was Jack.

"Roger that, my love, we're tracking the Nightmare Assassins, it looks like two have headed for the city and the palace and the other two are heading for the mountain, possibly in pursuit of the native Dream Warriors, I am sensing a great deal of energy from that direction so we're heading after them, over and out," Jack said.

Suddenly Zed snarled to his left, "Looks like he got the scent, so let's hunt," he said, and without another word the four Dream Warriors took off at top speed with Analise riding Zed and transferring her power to him so he could move at their speed, the hunt was on.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Hidden World.

Zed seemed to be the only one who was having an easy time running on the fine, ever shifting sands of the desert, his huge paws acting like snow shoes spreading his weight as he ran, the others were not having such a fun time.

Their boots were sinking into the fine sand with every step but not one of the running Seekers slowed down, keeping up their incredible pace, Seekers, like Hunters, are not just soldiers, they are trained athletes who could push their endurance to obscene levels and Jack introduced SAS style endurance training into both the Hunters and the Seekers training to ensure that they could keep going no matter what was thrown at them.

In fact, he based a large part of the training section on the legendary SAS selection which was infamous on Earth for pushing candidates well beyond the endurance and breaking points of the vast majority of the Human race.

But he wanted every single Hunter and Seeker that put on the armor to not just be at that level but beyond it, this in his opinion would give them all a huge advantage on a prolonged battlefield because even with their modern tech you never knew when you were going to have to go old school and just hoof it, just like now.

Now Jack had taught every single candidate tricks for surviving this kind of endurance training, like mental detachment, you sent your mind to another place while your body just carried on, it helped you to push yourself through your limits, the trick was to keep your mind away from your body so that it didn't realise what it was enduring, kinda like the way some people used music while running to help them focus.

Though under the glaring and burning hot sun all of them were glad of their armor's cooling systems which regulated their body tempretures, even Zed's armor had one which the huge six legged fire tiger was undoubtably grateful for with all that fur right about now, in fact, the only one who wasn't having to push their endurance here was Analise who was riding on Zed's back as he ran.

"Why do I get the feeling you are imagining our Grand Matriarch playing volleyball again?" Mav panted all of a sudden, making Jack laugh and cough as he was running as they followed the tracks in the sand, all the Seekers had a very close relationship and despite operating as military unit they spoke to one another like friends or family.

"I would, except her actually doing it for real kinda ruined that fantasy, as good as it was to see her in a bikini jumping about on the beach the squad of Battle Angels repairing facial injuries from high speed ball to face impacts kinda ruined it because everyone started putting on armor, or at the very least helmets to play against her, it's just not sexy, you know?" He replied, making them all laugh as the memories of the Seekers Vs Hunters beach volleyball competition flooded back, the joy of many pretty Yautja and human girls in bikinis had been short lived by the utter war that had broken out on the court.

"Wasn't as bad as that time Monty tried to get the Hunters to play dodgeball as part of their PT regiment," Analise said, and that made them all wince and laugh some more.

"Yeah, he forgot to factor in just how competitive Yautja girls get and he failed to explain that the objective was just to tag your opponent, not put them through a pauking wall," Mav said, making Jack laugh.

"I think I'll just go back to my Tik doing a Baywatch slow motion run in a red swimsuit fantasy," he said.

"What's Baywatch?" Analise asked, and Jack laughed.

"Ahh, I sometimes forget that a sizeable chunk of our population have never even set foot on Earth, let alone ever saw our entertainment history, Baywatch was a television program that told fictional tales of a group of lifeguards on a beach who did stuff like solved crimes and mysteries and before you ask, no, I have no idea why lifeguards would be doing such things either, but they did, though I think it was just an excuse for them to show us images of pretty women and men running around in very little clothing," Jack said.

"So you came up with our Grand Matriarch in a red swim suit running along a beach?" Mav asked, and Jack laughed.

"You forgot the slow motion, the slow motion is very important," Jack said.

"Hmmmm, I wonder why?" Analise said sarcastically, and Mav laughed.

"Because physics, that's why, and hey, I'm not giving you stick about the mental image you're now having of a certain red scaled dragon-like boy running along the beach in a thong stopping to shake the spray off his tail now am I?" Jack said, and Analise snorted in her helmet.

"Well I wasn't until you said it," she exclaimed, and Jack grinned.

"And now you can't unsee it and you're welcome," he replied.

"By Paya, the way you lot are acting anyone swear I'm going to ravish that poor Draconis boy like I'm some sort of scale predator," she said, and all of the others laughed out loud.

"We're just cheering you on is all, it's obvious you like him and to him you are the very first female who has not tried to hurt him, use him, rape him or abuse him, so you have an opportunity to teach him the truth of love and how it feels to be cared for and about, we all know you're a good person, Analise, and you'd be good for him and we all believe he'd be good for you, I wandered in his mind and his heart and I saw who he is and he is an immensely kind and gentle person who just wants to be loved, oh, and he thinks you're the most beautiful thing he has ever seen," Jack said, making Analise stutter.

But before she could come up with a response Jack stopped and brought his fist up, the group froze and began scanning three hundred and sixty degrees as they sought out any threats nearby, but not one of them saw anything.

"Does anyone body else feel that?" Jack asked, his eyes sparkling under his helmet as he reached out with his abilities.

In fact, all of their eyes were glowing now as they all reached out, suddenly both the Tamers turned their heads towards the mountains and pointed at the same spot, "There," they said in unison.

"Whatcha got?" Jack asked.

"There is a strong pull of nature there, I feel a huge mass of life," Rita said, and Analise nodded in agreement.

There was also a huge build up of energy in that area as well, but Jack was picking up something else as well, something spiritual.

"You feel that, Mav?" He asked, and Mav nodded his head.

"There is a large flux of spiritual energy in this area, I would advise caution here, Grand Patriarch, they could be using spirits to either defend or shield their location," Mav said.

Jack nodded thoughtfully, it was rather smart really, suddenly the name Ghost Slitherers made a fair bit more sense, if their equivalent of Soul Knights used the dead to hide them from the living then chances were they really didn't want visitors but Jack hoped that being Dream Warriors like them would at least give them some trust points, but either way they were here to save these innocent people from either the wrath or influence of the Nightmare Assassins, a battle they could not afford to lose.

As they climbed out of the sandy desert and onto the edge of the rocky mountains the group followed the tracks of the two Nightmare Assassins to the edge of the rocky outcrops where the ground turned into a mixture of flat rock and gravel that actually made them start to wish for the sand back.

Suddenly Jack began to sense a darkness and a powerful anger from not far ahead of them, "We're close," he said, and Zed made a low growl as if agreeing with him, the big feline's ears were swiveling as he tracked some source of unheard noise.

"Zed has them, they are just ahead," Analise said, her voice low and dark.

"Let's get these fuckers, I am not going to let them hurt a single scale on those innocent Ghost Slitherers, they are our brothers and sisters and we will protect them," Jack said, and the other three nodded.

The four Seekers moved tactically towards the source of the energy they were sensing, out of seemingly nowhere a huge cave mouth appeared, it was almost perfectly camoflauged by the layout of the rocks, if you looked at the mountain straight on you'd never see it but at the angle that they were stood below it showed up, it was like an optical illusion or one of those paintings that changed perspective if you viewed it from different angles, the four of them switched to Night Vision as they reached the cave mouth, huge stalagtites and stalagmites created the illusion of a giant mouth filled with huge, pointy fang-like teeth.

Jack keyed his comms, "Seeker one one to Dreamer, we've reached what appears to be a cave of some sort leading underground into the mountain range, we've tracked two of the Nightmare Assassins here and are heading inside to apprehend them, we may go off comms or lose bio signals depending on how deep this goes, I will leave a signal relay at the cave mouth, it may help, but if you don't hear from us in a couple of hours send a team to this location, over," he said.

Tik's voice came back almost immediately, "Roger that, my love, and I can tell you now if I do not hear from you in a couple of hours I will be coming down there myself to search every single inch of those pauking caves and Paya help anyone who may have harmed any one of you, Dreamer, over and out."

Mav glanced at Jack who just shrugged with a grin, "Our Grand Matriarch never pauks about, does she?" He said, and Jack laughed.

"Not when me or our cubs are concerned, no, no quicker way to make her go from happy Tik to beat you to death with your own arse hole Tik than to threaten one of us in front of her," he said, making the others laugh as every one of them knew the extent of their Grand Matriarch's power and protective streak only too well, it was the stuff of legends.

Analise hopped off Zed's back and patted the huge tiger's flank, he would be moving ahead of them leading the team in the hunt, he would also be the first to hit them when the time came, there was nothing like an angry armored fire tiger coming at you out of the darkness to really shit you up and throw you off your game, especially when you then got ambushed by four armored Dream Warriors as well.

The cave narrowed into a series of tunnels that branched off in a multitude of directions, the Seekers weren't really looking for the Ghost Slitherers yet, they were focused on the Nightmare Assassins, they wanted to stop them reaching the Ghost Slitherers and inflicting any damage whatsoever on them, so following Zed's powerful nose the team took turn after turn through the winding rock tunnels, after a while Jack's comms unit beeped to let him know they'd lost the relay and they were now cut off from their support.

"Tighten up, people, by the numbers, I would prefer this to be a capture mission but no matter what we protect those innocent Ghost Slitherers so lethal force is authorised," Jack said, gaining three nods from his team.

The corridor led to a huge dead end that ended in a huge circular room lake, a kinda antechamber, it was almost shaped like a bell and it made their footsteps echo, Jack got a very odd sensation traveling over his skin like an electrical charge making his hair stand on end and by the way he was acting Mav was feeling it too but oddly neither Analise or Rita were reacting which to him indicated that this was a spiritual phenomenon than a natural one, that's when he noticed the cloud against the ceiling.

"They're above us!" Jack yelled, and the four Dream Warriors burst away from the spot they were standing, turning their weapons skyward just in time to see the two Scalathor Nightmare Assassins burst out of the clouds of dark energy that they'd been using to hide their presence.

The two female Scalathor moved like acrobats, landing back to back in the centre of the room, both were brandishing wicked looking bladed weapons that had serrated curved blades, each one was as black as the night sky.

One of the Scalathor had bright yellow scales and the other a deep blue color, but it was their eyes that instantly grabbed Jack's attention, black and cold just like their weapons, well, all except for their vertical slit pupils which were an angry shade of blood red.

"You are like us! You must be the accursed Dream Warriors the Dark Seed warned us of!" one of them hissed in a dark, deep voice.

"Got it in one, Nightmare Assassin, now why don't you put down that weapon and let us free you from the darkness that has invaded your mind, let us show you who you really are, what you are supposed to be," Jack said.

Their dark eyes darted from one to the other, "You let this male speak for you? What kind of female are you?" one of them snarled aiming her question at Analise.

"Unlike you we do not oppress our males, nor they us, we see strength through unity, not oppression," Analise said.

The Scalathor scoffed, "Unity, what a weak premise, males are for serving, pleasuring and making young, that's it! They are no more your equal than that animal there, it is just like the Dark Seed told us, you are weak, pathetic, but this is something that you will learn in time and also in time you will see the Dark Seed is correct but by that point it will be too late for you, just like it is for these pathetic Ghost Slitherers, they will either bow before us or be destroyed, just like you!!" one of them yelled before as one they launched themselves at the four Seekers and one tiger.

Jack saw the closest one rush right at him and even before their blades crossed Jack felt her hatred and her determination being channeled at him, it obviously gave her a form of strength, a surprisingly effective one, she could obviously channel it into boosting her strength, but there was one flaw in her attack, she was under the belief that simply because she was female she had an advantage over Jack because he was male, now this might have been true if he was Scalathor, but Jack was not Scalathor and Mav was most certainly not.

Her small curved blades glanced off Jack's huge blade, sending a shower of sparks that lit the air around them like little fire works, Jack spun, using the huge sword to block her follow up attack before planting a heavy full frontal kick straight to her solar plexus and sending her flying backwards where she turned over in mid air and landed on her feet, using her tail to stabilise her backwards slide.

Her friend was not fairing well either, she was currently under siege from both Rita and Analise, they were hitting her from both sides while Zed circled and waited for an opening and despite the speed at which the two Dream Warriors and one Nightmare Assassin were moving he found it.

The huge tiger leapt forwards with a mighty roar which startled the woman, causing her to turn but Zed had not been trying to attack, only to distract her and it worked because from both sides at once Rita and Analise shot in, putting their modified Yautja style wrist blades to good use by plunging them into her torso from both sides at once.

The look in the woman's eyes told them she realized in her final seconds that she'd been tricked, even as she began to fall the pair withdrew their blood soaked blades and spun to face the last remaining one who rather than attack Jack again dashed backwards to her fallen friend, but it wasn't to save her, far from it, her intention was far more sinister.

She leapt over her fallen comrade and jammed her hand onto her chest and she began muttering something, a second later jack realized what was happening, "Soul Tear! Stop her!!" he yelled, but it was too late.

In only the fraction of second that she was stood over her fallen comrade she tore her dying friend's soul from her body, it was like she tore a handful of black smoke from her chest, causing the body to arch, it was a technique a Soul Knight knew well and it only had two purposes, to a Soul Knight it was a way of releasing a soul from a dying body and releasing it onwards to begin its journey to the afterlife, but it could be used in a far more insidious way, by temporarily joining it to your own and feeding on its power, kinda like attaching a battery booster to your own soul but it utterly destroyed the soul, being turned into energy, turning what was left of the person into a faint whisper of the person they once were, a shadow.

The black cloud now seemed to surround her body, clinging to it like it was vaporised oil, her eyes glowed brighter in an insidious blood red color and her face contorted into a dark sneer, "Even as one I am more than a match for you, first I will destroy you then I will take your strength and use it to destroy those pathetic Ghost Slitherers, they will bow or die, these are the command of the Dark Seed and I and they will obey!" she snarled in a slightly echoing voice.

"Mav, summoning, now! I'll keep her busy! Analise, Rita, bind her!" Jack yelled, and he got three nods.

"Zed, get on her, boy!" Analise yelled, and the huge tiger leapt at the Nightmare Assassin, causing her to jump away and instantly Jack leapt at her, bringing his huge sword down, only for her to catch it on her own curved blade and deflect it, the pair crashed together over and over as the other three began chanting.

Jack kept her away from them, drawing on his considerable boosted strength to hold her in check and it worked beautifully, as one both Tamers let out a tremendous yell and out of the very rock around them green and black roots burst forwards and wrapped themselves around her arms and legs, Jack knew it wouldn't hold her for long but it was just long enough because no sooner had the plants wrapped her than Mav finished.

Grey smoke poured into the room like it was seeping in through every single crack in the place, "Souls of the honored fallen, of the glorious passed, I call on you, aid us, help us defend your brothers and sisters from evil, you sense us, feel us, know our hearts and intentions to be pure, we come to defend those who are innocent from harm, lend us your strength and help us to drive this evil from your home, we will stand for you in your time of need, the Children of Paya here to stand for the children of the Great Tree, stand with us," Mav called, and instantly the grey smoke swirled and pulsed like it was deciding what to do, before it surged and surrounded both Jack and Mav.

The pair of them glowed brightly as the smoke changed to a bright electric blue color and both of them surged forward just in time as the Nightmare Assassin broke free of her binds, but she wasn't fast enough and both of them grabbed her, "Let's see who's pulling the strings in there, shall we?" Jack yelled, but before he had a chance to reach into her soul he heard a sharp crack from her jaw.

"Not this time, God Slayer, I go to the Dark Seed and you shall not stop me and soon the Dark Seed will sprout and its darkness will drown this universe and then you will see the truth and it will swallow you whole," she said, and with that the cyanide in her hollow tooth kicked in and with a racking gurgle her body went still as thick white foam flowed out of her mouth and her eyes ceased glowing, with an echoing distant scream the black smoke that was surrounding her exploded away from her body, vanishing into the darkness.

"Fucking suicide tooth, they're fucking serious about us not capturing one of their Nightmare Assassins," Jack said, standing up and letting the body of the dead Nightmare Assassin lay down on the floor, he leaned down and closed the woman's eyes and crossed her arms over her chest in a sign of respect, he quickly searched her body but found nothing of any interest.

Analise leaned down and checked the other one, and found equally nothing, "They came down with no support and no comms, this was a one way trip, a suicide mission," she said.

"So they never intended to capture the Ghost Slitherers, this was really only a kill mission, well, I guess unless they believed that they could turn them against their own people through their isolation infected with their hate," Mav said.

"I think we should pull out all the stops to find the Ghost Slitherers ourselves, the Serpentinus might not know how to handle or train them but we do, hopefully we can not only help them to understand who and what they are but to make peace with it and use it for the good of their people," Jack said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Hey, is anyone else seeing these?" Rita said suddenly, and Jack looked up from the body and looked to where she was pointing.

That's when his infra red lamps lit up the walls and his mouth promptly fell open, the whole wall and the ceiling were utterly covered in primitive cave paintings, the paint seemed to react to the infra red light and seemed to make them glow with an almost ethereal light.

"Oh, wow, these are incredible," Jack said as he realized he was seeing the story of the lives of these Ghost Slitherers unfolding through a primitive medium, one image on the far left of the cave had lots of little painted Serpentinus in a huge group and one segregated from the group, like it had been cast out.

The image showed what looked like the lone Serpentinus literally begging to be let into the crowd but was shunned and cast out to be all alone, now given how social they were living in little packs so that they had these extended families and essentially were never alone Jack could only imagine the existential horror that these poor people must have experienced being all alone like that, not knowing what to do or where to go, shunned by their sisters and brothers.

As he followed the images along he could actually feel the pain and the fear of the little painted Serpentinus as she or he slithered the world alone looking for someone, anyone who would accept them, who would reach out a hand to them and say, "It's ok, come with me, I'll keep you safe."

The paintings went on to show the lone Serpentinus slithering its way through a lonely world 'till it met what jack could only assume was the Great Tree, it directed them to find others like them and to hide from the world, so that's what the little painted Serpentinus did, it traveled from the desert, to the jungles, to the forest and beyond, finding others like itself and gathering them together.

Now the little painted Serpentinus had itself a family and now they left the world that had cast them out behind and took refuge in the caves and they vanished from the world, that's when he saw it, after following the pictures along like a story Jack found a glowing hand print.

Now it wasn't glowing with light, it was like it had an aura swirling around it, Jack retracted his glove from his right hand, exposing the skin underneath and slowly he placed his hand against the glowing hand print, instantly the aura began to pulse and swirl around his hand, it seemed to pull his own aura to it and joined with it.

Instantly Jack felt it in his mind and images began to cycle through his mind like it was telling the story of the lonely lost Serpentinus, that's when it hit Jack what this was, somehow not only had the Serpentinus Ghost Slitherers had managed to create an imprint of all their experiences and not only that but they'd linked it to the Great Tree, so only a true child of the Great Tree who had the gift could pass and it required you to add your experience to the mark, it was like a spiritual monument.

But as a Dream Warrior Jack could access it and he found he could not only access it he could walk among that vast collection of memories and experiences but he could add his own to it, it was like he copy pasted part of his soul into the collective for others following the path to lead them here could live his life like he'd just lead the lives of hundredsof those poor Ghost Slitherers all at once and in a way it made him smile because he hoped that by seeing his memories it would give them hope and show them there was another way.

Now as soon as the process was complete a second aura lit up to his right in the shape of an archway, when he reached out and touched the wall where the glowing arch was he realized that there was nothing there, it was some form of high grade illusion.

"Holy shit, it's a false wall, guys, put your bare hand on the wall over here," Jack said, pointing to the handprint and one after the other each of them added their memories to the mass, each marveling at the wonders of it, but then they saw the archway and it seemed to amaze them as much as it had Jack himself.

"Oh, wow, this is incredible, I've never seen anything like this before, they've figured out how to imprint psychic energy onto inanimate objects, that's incredible," Analise said, obviously impressed.

The four of them and one tiger began to move through the tunnel which seemed to wind downwards like some sort of huge spiral staircase but in the form of a ramp, but it eventually led down into a second antechamber, this one had more paintings, though these ones were far more detailed, showing huge paintings of the Great Tree surrounded with Serpentinus all holding hands.

There was another tunnel and they followed it and when they reached the end the four of them stood in utter shock and amazement, what greeted them was an absolute miniature paradise.

It was like a self contained oasis right in the centre of the mountain which like a volcano appeared to be utterly hollow, right in the centre of it was a tree with a huge pool of utterly clear water that was surrounded by thick, lush grass and surrounding that was what looked like a little village of circular houses made from wood.

There were a variety of Serpentinus from many different genus slithering about all over the place doing normal day to day stuff, like on the right side there was a little blacksmith station that drew Jack's eyes, there was also a little baker building making bread with white smoke lazily coming from the large chimney on the side of the building but they could smell the fresh baking bread as it wafted across to them.

It was now that the Serpentinus packs slithering about going about their day seemed to sense the presence of the strangers in their midst and as one they all seemed to turn towards the group and as one the whole lot of them vanished back to their homes and the air was filled with panicked shouts and moments later they returned all armed and obviously ready to defend their home from the outsiders who they most likely thought were Scalathor.

"Weapons away and power down your casters, Analise, stand Zed down," Jack said, she nodded and touched the big tiger on the head and the big cat simply laid down on the grass and began to clean himself.

The Serpentinus slowly and cautiously slithered towards them, there was a group of at least two hundred of them, they seemed to be armed with a variety of bladed weapons. bows and even spears, one of them slithered from the group and jack instantly noticed that it appeared to be a male and this actually surprised him as honestly this was the first one he'd actually seen, he appeared to be of the Cobra genus, looking like Leba from Celia's pack.

"Who are you and how did you find this place?" the male asked, flaring his hood in an obvious threat display, as at the same time he pointed his long halberd like spear at Jack.

Jack knew that the Serpentinus wouldn't understand him as he spoke so he set the translator in his suit to Serpentinus.

"Please do not fear us, we come in peace, brother, my name is Jack Mason and I am Grand Patriarch of Clan Mason, we came here to your world to defend your people from a cowardly attack by the Scalathor, one that also had the intention of finding and either killing or converting you and your fellow Ghost Slitherers to their cause, we are only here because we simply wished to meet you and to show you that you are not alone in the universe," Jack said.

The lead Serpentinus looked confused and looked Jack up and down with bright purple eyes, "Wait, you don't have a tail! You mean to say you are not Scalathor?" He exclaimed, and Jack shook his head and with that he removed his helmet and signaled for the others to do the same.

When confronted with four aliens and two very different different alien species there was a flurry of surprised faces and flickering tongues, the leader slowly and cautiously approached Jack, keeping his weapon trained on him, the guy was huge, from tip to tail about fourteen foot long. 

As he came close Jack could see the light glowing in his eyes and he smiled as he knew he was reaching out using his abilities and Jack reciprocated in kind, "Y-Y-You are like me! Like us!" he exclaimed, and Jack nodded.

"We are called Dream Warriors, we are children of Paya, the Great Huntress, we've met your Great Tree aboard a Scalathor freighter where we rescued a member of your species, we reached out to it and it asked for our help in saving its children from the coming darkness, so here we are because that is what the Guardian Core and what Clan Mason is all about, strength through unity and protecting those who cannot protect themselves, that's when we got wind of yourselves and knew that we had to meet you and we learned Scalathor Nightmare Assassins were coming to kill or convert you," Jack said.

Suddenly the Serpentinus's eyes widened and his tongue began going ninety to the dozen, "The children of the stars, you're the children of the stars, aren't you!?" he exclaimed in a soft excited sounding whisper, a whisper that quickly began to echo through the crowd.

Jack cocked his head curiously, "I'm not sure but we are aliens if that's what you mean so I guess that could mean yes, but I'd have to know more to give a definitive answer," Jack said.

"The Great Tree told us many circuits ago that one day that children who were born far beyond the stars would come to us and would lift us up, that they would take us by the hand and guide us, that their arrival would signify the dawning of a new age, an age of acceptance for our kind among our people, that these star children would make us stronger as well as showing us the way to protect our people," the male said, and Jack smiled and he once again removed his glove.

"Take my hand and let me show you, brother, there are no lies and no secrets between our kind, so let me show you who we are and what we are, so here I am, see me and let me see you," he said, and just like that the male Serpentinus gripped his hand and just like that each of their eyes changed as their minds interlocked and their lives flooded together like two rivers mixing to become one.

What Jack saw disgusted and outraged him, it was like a fire burning hot in his soul, he saw this poor male's life from beginning to this moment, he saw his family pack's reaction when as a young boy they saw how different he was, how they tried to hide him from the world, locking him away in a basement to keep him away from other people, so they wouldn't see what he was and chase his family who were from a very rural area away. 

He saw the day when they finally threw him out before he was twelve years old and this poor male whose name is Vallaran was forced to flee his village and to wander the world alone and scared.

Jack felt the tears streaming down his face as he felt the pain and the fear and how close to death he came before by absolute sheer luck another Ghost Slitherer found him and brought him here, over time he grew into a fine male who was determined to protect all the Ghost Slitherers here like they were all one giant pack, soon he became the leader of the settlement and made it his mission not only to protect them but to search for and find more of them and to bring them to safety.

On the other side Vallaran also had tears streaming down his face as he saw Jack's life, all the things he'd been through, all the things he'd seen and then the world he and Tik had built and what they'd based it on, "I-I-It's beautiful, it's so beautiful, y-y-you've built paradise, with your bare hands you built paradise and now you came here across the ocean of stars to protect us, literal stranger aliens to you because you cannot bare the thought of anyone hurting us or taking advantage of us like that, I-I-I feel it, I feel the love you have, the burning desire to protect, it's incredible," Vallaran said, and Jack smiled.

"It's something you can have, Vallaran, we'd more than happily help you, not only in your quest to find more of your brother and sister Ghost Slitherers, but of training you to protect the ones you love as well as educating your people about who you are and showing them that you are nothing to fear but to embrace and to be proud of and if you wish it we'd be more than happy to take you to our homeworld where you can train as Seekers of Truth, from there the choice will be yours, you can either come back here and form your own version of the Seekers which we'd be more than happy to help negotiate integrating with your people's military and showing not only the Royal pack how you could be a major asset to them, or for any who wish it you'd be more than welcome to join the Guardian Core as full blown Seekers and earn yourself a place on our home, a place that you can build with your own hands and become a member of our pack," Jack said.

To his absolute surprise the huge Serpentinus male broke down, he began sobbing and hugged Jack right in front of everyone, it was obvious to Jack that this poor male had never experienced such pure and unadulterated acceptance by a complete stranger other than when he'd been taken in by the Ghost Slitherers. 

Jack turned to the Seekers, "I'm going to perform a mass joining," he said, and the three of them grinned and nodded and Vallaran's eyes lit up as he saw in Jack's memories what he meant, then he turned to Vallaran, he also saw that Jack was the only Dream Warrior powerful enough in generations to be able to pull something like this off.

"With your permission," he said, and the big male nodded in agreement and with that Jack reached out with his mind and pushed his power right up, letting it surge through him and fill him up, his power lifted him from the ground and he held out his hands before power like purple lightning shot from him and joined every single one together just like a huge version of that handprint they encountered.

In an instant the thoughts and memories were blended together in one huge mash and each and every one of those people felt the entirety of everything, the same expression that Vallaran had and soon tears were flowing from every single eye in the gathered crowd and literally every weapon clattered to the ground as they saw the truth of their visitors.

Jack slowly lowered back down to the ground, his hair still wavering and crackling with electrical energy, slowly he placed his hands on Vallaran's large shoulders, he was slightly smaller than the females in the crowd around him as were all the males in the group, "From this moment you, your people and all Ghost Slitherers are under the protection of Clan Mason, never again will you be cast out or treated with distain or dishonor, you will be given a place of welcome among our kind and not only that but we will restore your people's place of honor among your own kind, we will make them see your worth and your value, never again will a child Ghost Slitherer be forced to slither the world alone and afraid, never again will they be cold and hungry, together we will show them who you are, blessed children of the Great Tree, just like any Serpentinus, from this moment you are protected," Jack said, his voice booming across the area and reaching the ears of every single one of them.

The outpouring of emotion was wonderful to see and instantly the group found themselves surrounded by very enthusiastic Serpentinus who were hugging them and accepting handshakes, even Zed was getting petted and stroked and he was like a giant housecat, purring away happily, nuzzling against them.

Suddenly Jack noticed a lot of little heads popping up from around the little circular hut and curious little tongues began flickering away, he couldn't help but smile as slowly and cautiously little children began to emerge from their hiding places to see their strange alien visitors.

This was the first time any of them had seen Serpentinus children and they were the cutest little things in the world, all dressed in their little peasant style gear, lots of hand woven flax and cotton shits and skirts, even the males wor skirts but given that they didn't have legs it made sense.

Jack noticed that there were some mixed versions of the genus among them, he noticed one little female clutching a little hand stitched dolly that was a very crude little Serpentinus to her chest, she looked like she was a mixture of a type of Viper and possibly a Python.

She slithered up to Jack and looked up at him and he smiled at her, suddenly he was glad they hadn't brought any Battle Angels with them, the girls among their number were notorious when it came to gushing over little ones of any species, it was often hard to pry a newborn from the cooing and squealing girls to hand them to their birth mother in the hospital hive and with the cuteness of these little Serpentinus with their huge eyes and happy, innocent smiles and flickering little tongues would have those Xenos gushing.

"Hello there, little one," Jack said softly as he crouched down to look at the little girl and her dolly.

"Hello, my name is Silica and this is Saba, you're a boy, aren't you?" the little girl said, looking up at him, and Jack nodded.

"Yup, my Name is Jack Mason, but you two can call me Jack," he said.

"My mummies tell me it's the duty of all the girls to protect our boys but our boys are strong and they protect us too, do your girls protect you too?" she asked, making Jack chuckle softly.

"Oh, yes, you should meet my wife, she's the strongest girl you'd ever meet, she's big and powerful and there are few foolish enough to mess with her loved ones, her wrath is the stuff of legends, but to those she loves and cares for you could never meet a more loving or gentle female, she would protect any person here with her dying breath," he said.

Silica nodded, obviously understanding, "My mummies are really strong, they protect my daddy, keep him safe and my little brother too," she said with such passion in her voice that Jack couldn't help but smile.

"Don't you worry, little one, the Guardian Core is really strong and we will protect both your mummies and your daddy, not to mention you and your brother as well," he said, making her smile.

"My Jack, why do people hate us, what did we do wrong?" she asked so innocently and sweetly that it actually tugged at his heart strings.

"People are often scared of what they don't understand, i was lucky when my powers awoke, I was among people who understood what I was, if I had been among my own kind undoubtably they would have been scared by me as well, it was one of the reasons that myself and my wife Tik eleth formed Clan Mason, so that people like me would have a safe place to turn, to understand who we are and what we are capable of, to harness it and to become what we are meant to be," he said, and the little girl smiled.

"That sounds like a beautiful thing, I saw the pretty place in the dream you sent me, can I go there? Can I see it for real?" she asked, and Jack smiled and nodded.

"Yes, of course you can, and if you want to and your mummies and daddy allow it we can even teach you how to become a Seeker like me, would you like to see what Seekers can do?" he asked, and she nodded curiously.

"Now I myself am what we call a Soul Knight, see Analise over there, she's the pretty lady with blonde hair who has the big tiger," Jack said, pointing, she nodded, looking at Analise who was showing the Serpentinus how to properly pet Zed and tickle under his chin.

"She's what we call a Tamer, now, Soul Knights can speak to the dead, we see them as if they were as alive as you or I, Tamers on the other hand communicate with nature, they feel the power and beauty of mother nature and can control it," he said, and she looked amazed.

That's when Jack began his Soul Summoning, he began to chant softly and focused his power, being the most powerful Dream Warrior in generations had its benefits, smoke began to rise from all around him, creating a grey tornado around him until it exploded outwards, creating a wash that flowed over the entire village, startling the other Ghost Slitherers who all turned to look at him as he levitated in place, holding his arms outwards.

"Souls of the honored beloved passed, hear my call, I offer the chance to meet your brethren and your beloved ones, enter through my power and come," Jack said loudly, and almost instant the smoke took form and became see-through Serpentinus, much to the surprise and instant joy of the Ghost Slitherers.

There were cries of pure emotion from all around, as lost fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters were reunited with their left behind ones, to Jack's pure delight he saw the conversations sparking up, it was a beautiful sight.

When Jack shut down the Soul Summoning he found himself utterly surrounded by Ghost Slitherers all hoping to learn how he did that, "This is just one of the things we can offer you, any Soul Knight among us can do this, just like any Tamer among us can do this......" he said, turning and giving Analise a knowing nod as he let his voice trail off.

Analise smiled and began her own kind of summoning, though this one wasn't to the souls of the dead but instead to something very much alive, a pulse of power rippled out of her outstretched hands and no sooner had it touched the ground than the flowers all around her began to bloom, creating an explosion of color to ripple outwards across the village as the plants responded to her call.

There were cries first of alarm and then of wonder and then of pure joy, "C-C-Can you teach us this?" some asked, and there were nods of agreement all around them.

"That and so much more, there is a place on our homeworld that if you search the memories from us that you will see, it's called the Temple of the Seekers, look and see it for yourselves, see what it is we do and teach there, we can show you how to do the most wonderful and beautiful things," Jack said.

Each of them searched the memories and there was a flurry of curious tongues as if they were actually trying to reach out and smell this place filled with wonders across the ocean of stars, "We want this, Grand Patriarch, we want this wonderful thing you offer us, please, take our packs with you, please," Vallaran said, and Jack nodded.

"You can all come with us, but pack light when you come to us, we will give you all you will need," he said, and Vallaran immediately started yelling instructions to his people and they slithered off in all directions to start packing.

Jack had never seen such determination in his life, they packed their meager belongings and pretty soon the entire group was ready to go, so with Jack and Analise at the lead then the group and Rita and Mav at the rear the entire group left their little village.

As they slithered up through the passages they spotted the two dead Scalathor Nightmare Assassins and Jack saw Vallaran looking through his memories until he saw the battle, "They were coming to kill us," Vallaran said, and Jack nodded.

"When it comes to their kind we prefer to capture and free them from the power holding them but they gave us no choice," Jack said, and Vallaran nodded, seeing both Jack's memories and the way he had treated the body after her death.

"You pay respect to a fallen enemy, this is the sign of an honorable being," he said, and Jack nodded.

"Thank you, Vallaran," Jack said, and with that the group headed outside.

"Seeker one one to the Dreamer, come in Dreamer," Jack said into the comms.

"Good to hear your voice, my love, how did it go with the Ghost Slitherers and the Nightmare Assassins?" Tik asked.

"Two Nightmare Assassins accounted for and dealt with, I'm going to need you to send down some landers to pick up about two hundred passengers, over," Jack replied.

The surprise in Tik's voice was evident, "Over two hundred new Dream Warriors!?" she exclaimed.

"I think they prefer the name Ghost Slitherers but yes, they wish to come with us to be trained at the temple, over," he said.

"This is wonderful news, my love, I'll have Sela eleth get her Saviors to bring down some shuttles and pick them up, will you be returning as well, my love? Over," Tik asked.

"Not yet, we're heading back to the capital, don't want to leave until we're sure its secure, on that front any word from Seeker two one or Seeker One two? Over," Jack asked.

"No, nothing from either our beloved cub or Seeker one two yet, we have been scanning the area but the Nightmare Assassins are as good at hiding themselves as you are during my time of the month, over," Tik said, making Jack chuckle but truly Yautja PMS was no laughing matter.

"Well, once the Ghost Slitherers are safely aboard the shuttles we will head back to the capital and reinforce them, hopefully those other two Nightmare Assassins don't reach them before we do, Seeker one one over and out," Jack said.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Liam felt a tongue flickering near his ear for the fifth time in an hour, "Leba, it's really hard to focus with you tasting my ear," he said without opening his eyes, though honestly he didn't need to open them as thanks to his Soul Sense he could see them just fine, though it was like looking at them through shadows and their bodies glowed like they were made of blue shimmering smoke.

Plus it wasn't just what his eyes could see, Soul Sense allowed him to see everything around him like he was standing outside his own body looking at it, that's how he knew it was Leba hovering over him taking notes, he watched her hood flaring curiously, he even saw the blood pulsing to the muscles that controlled her hood.

It sent sparkles of light along her body as her life giving blood moved through her, he could also see the three members of the royal pack that were with her observing him, "S-Sorry, my beautiful husband, but I cannot resist watching you, this is utterly fascinating and how did you know it was me? Veme was studying you earlier," she replied.

So Liam decided to scare the crap out of her, "Because I can see you," his voice said from behind her head and she snapped around, her hood fully flaring in alarm, when she turned back his eyes were open and as one her and the three members of the royal pack gasped in amazement.

"His eyes are like looking at miniature galaxies!" one of them who Liam had learned was called Sama and was actually Leba's twin sister exclaimed.

"See? What did I tell you, sister? Gaze upon the beauty that my pack has bagged for ourselves and feel the envy, this is our beauty and no one else's, I get to gaze into these exquisite eyes whenever I want now, not to mention the rest of the beauty he now hides," Leba said, first looking at her sister before shooting Liam a playful look which caused him to flush bright red.

"By the Great Tree, they change color!? You never said their skin changes color like this!" Berra, a leaf color Asp genus said, darting her head forwards and examining Liam from very close up, nearly making him recoil.

"Yes, we got, errr, a glimpse of that beauty you spoke of when Ciri and Grand Patriarch Jack shocked you all out of bed this morning, it's safe to say I'm rather jealous of the husband your pack have secured for yourselves," Sama said, smiling at her sister who smiled proudly at Liam who chuckled softly to himself, he definitely was not used to being put on a pedestal, let alone one so grand.

"So what are you doing, Seeker Liam?" Sama asked, moving her head around him, looking at him from different angles.

"I'm meditating, or at least trying to at the very least, I'm also using my Soul Sight to try and give me an early warning on anyone approaching us," Liam replied.

"Soul Sight? What is that?" Sama asked curiously.

"Our husband is a Ghost Slitherer, remember? He can do amazing things," Veme said proudly.

"Dream Warrior, but I guess it's essentially the same thing, we have a variety of abilities based on what caste of Dream Warrior we belong to, I'm a Soul Knight so my abilities are based primarily in the spirit realm, I can see the dead, call them to me for aid or to boost my strength, or even to hide me from sight among a great many other things," Liam said.

"It's true, he literally vanished from sight last night, scared the scales off us when he just popped up again behind us," Celia said from where she was sat at Ciri's side.

"What other types of Dream Warriors are there?" Ciri asked curiously.

"Two that we know of, there are the Tamers which are lead by Jack's son Ryan, who you met already, their power comes from their connection to nature, they can call on it, bend it and twist it to their needs, anything from summoning a bunch of local predators to fight for them, to using plants to shield friends, or slow down and restrain enemies, that's kinda why Analise walks around with that huge pet fire tiger of hers, she's got a whole pack of them back home and to her friends and loved ones it's like having a pack of giant kittens wandering about the temple, to her enemies or the Clan's enemies there is no scarier sight than those tigers charging into battle dressed in their armor, imagine a whole lot of angry Zed's charging right at you wearing full armor," Liam said, and he could see both Leba and Sama looking at one another obviously impressed at the thought.

"The final caste are the Seekers of Balance, they are kinda a blend of the two, unable to use the higher their abilities of either group but their speciality is finding others like us, they are tuned to the energies our kind give off, but ironically that also makes them pretty rare, we only have a small number of them in our ranks currently, but fortunately our Grand Patriarch is also the most powerful Dream Warrior to have existed in many generations, he is the chosen one of our Lady Paya, personally blessed to defend us and all, they call him the God Slayer," Liam said, standing up and stretching himself, watching as the girls all subconsciously flicked their tongues at him.

"God Slayer?" Leba asked.

"He defeated the dark God Loki right at the beginning of the formation of our Clan, pulled him out of an innocent Dream Warrior called h'chak, a Yautja female, a kind and gentle member of the Yautja which kinda sounds like a double negative given how aggressive they tend to be, but what that poor girl suffered is beyond measure, but the way our Grand Matriarch tells it, it would have been too easy for him to just kill her, he wanted to understand her and to find out why she had gone bad and what was driving her to do the horrible things she did, what he found chills the blood of every Dream Warrior that hears the tale and it is one of the very first things that Seekers are taught, what we are is determined by who we are, being a Dream Warrior has its risks and is a bit of a double edged sword, it leaves us vulnerable to influence and in the case of h'chak and others possession by dark forces, she was a prisoner in her own mind, forced to watch as Loki joy rode around in her body, using her powers to do as he pleased," he said.

"T-T-That's awful!" Ciri said, utterly fascinated by the conversation now, it seemed that Ghost Slitherers and by extension Dream Warriors were a fascination of hers.

Liam nodded, "It's why the Seeker temple exists, to train us not only how to use our abilities but also how to discipline our minds and to protect ourselves against these influences, to use our powers for good, to hear the call of the good deities like Lady of the Eternal Hunt Paya and your Great Tree, in fact, I'm convinced that's how the Great Tree was able to reach out to our Grand Patriarch in the first place," Liam said.

"Well I for one am incredibly glad that he did, I have never been more thankful to our Great Tree than I am now, the Great Tree completed my pack in the most wonderful and beautiful way, by leading a beautiful, proud and strong mammal male to our door and into our loving coils, he rescued our beloved pack sister then showed us the truth of beauty and love," Leba said, slithering up to Liam and wrapping her coils around him before embracing him and bumping her snout against his nose, he knew from their memories that this was a form of kiss to them.

Sev, Veme and Celia instantly slithered over and joined in the wrap and Liam found himself wrapped into four sets of powerful rippling coils as each of them leaned in and each gave him a tickling kiss which he happily returned.

Suddenly Liam began to sense something, it was like a black oily smoke drifting through his senses, "Girls, let me go!" he said, his voice suddenly tense and immediately Celia was concerned.

"We didn't wrap you too tightly did we? We know you don't like being restrained," she said softly.

"No, it's not that, there's something coming!" Liam exclaimed, and Celia's eyes went wide with understanding and the four girls unwrapped him and looked at him for instruction.

Liam quickly deployed his helmet, "Secure the royal pack! And mine as well," Liam shouted to the royal guards who instantly reacted, hustling the now obviously frightened regent and her pack along with Celia and hers into the corner of the room and surrounded them. 

The royal guards put a wall of meat and scales between the vipers and whatever threat was coming, with Liam at its head, he was the tip of the spear, he didn't know how in the name of hell the Nightmare Assassins had managed to slip past the other Seekers or the Hunters but they had.

"Seeker one two to all nearby Seeker call signs, the enemy is inside the walls and approaching the saferoom," Liam said into the comms.

"Roger that, we're on our way!!" Ryan's voice yelled back.

They'd chosen this room as it was the most secure as it had no windows, just one way in and one way out, as Liam drew his swords and powered up his plasma casters he turned to face that one entrance as did every single one of the weapons of the guards, whatever was coming it was almost here and he was ready to face, he would defend those he loved with his final breath if need be, but come hell or high water it was not getting to his girls, not while he still drew breath, he would fight for his love, no matter what.  



	13. Chapter 13

Hey peeps GhostNobody here hoping that your 2021 is going better than 2020, though from what I'm seeing on the news I'm not all that hopeful, I still have you all in my thoughts.

I'd also like to reach out and offer my condolences to long time readers and friends Doug and Sandy I hope you're both holding on and don't worry ol uncle Ghost has got you, your request won't be in this chapter but I'll make it happen.

If you guys want to chat among friends come to see me on my Discord, https: //discord .gg/ hES52zn.

This is an open invitation to all, so come on down and say hi, I don't bite and neither do the many peeps already in there, so come on don't be shy join the fun and embrace the crazy.

So wishing you guys a better 2021 this is GhostNobody signing off and saying on with the show.....

Chapter 13: Shadows in the Night.

Liam braced himself chanting softly as he called to the spirits for aid, grey smoke began to slowly and lazily swirl around him till it utterly surrounded him, and he vanished from sight making Ciri and her pack gasp in surprise, but Celia and her pack calmed them telling them it was alright that it was something he did.

The heavy wooden door folded in half like it was made of paper, two black shadows like blurs shot into the room and went right for the stunned guards, but before they had a chance to get even halfway Liam burst out of thin air kicking off one of them and slashing at the other with his blades.

The Nightmare Assassin he kicked flew backwards spinning over and sliding on her feet back towards the door, the second one was barely able to get her blade in front of her to defend against Liam's furious flurry of swings in time to block them, showers of sparks lighting up her scaly features.

“You will not lay a single hand on them while my heart beats, not a single one!” Liam snarled menacingly.

Both of the Nightmare Assassins snarled at him and began barking at him in their language forcing his translator to fight to keep up, “We are children of the Dark Seed and these creatures have been marked for death! Why do you interfere alien? This is not your world and these are not your people what do their deaths mean to you?” one of the Nightmare Assassins barked.

“Because I am a Seeker of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, we fight for the innocent, to protect and defend them from any and all who would do them harm” Liam growled darkly as the Nightmare Assassins split and began to try and circle him, before they could get into optimal position Liam unleashed a series of shots from his plasma casters forcing them to dodge, and before they could get their footing he rushed them striking at one before spinning off her deflection and throwing a secondary strike at the other one trying to keep them both on the off foot until reinforcements arrived.

But the two were well-trained, they attacked him from two sides at once, they're weapons flashing and showers of sparks exploding from both weapons as their black blades crashed against Liam's. 

Liam spun on the spot deflecting both blades at once before a series of flashes erupted around the room and five more Liams charged right at them making both Nightmare Assassins' spin to defend themselves from the perceived onslaught, only it never came.

But that didn't mean the real Liam didn't turn and stab one of them right through the back with one of his blades making her screech in a mixture of pain and rage at having been deceived so easily, the second one came into counterattack even as her sister was falling, but her attack never arrived instead it was deflected by a set of wrist blades, wrist blades that belonged to Ryan Mason.

“Nope,” the big Yautja hybrid said with a deep snarl, the other Seekers had burst into the room behind him and the single living Nightmare Assassin now found herself surrounded by five Seekers all bearing down on her.

But regardless she was unwilling to back down and began to fight, she didn't have a hope in hell of winning, she launched herself at Ryan with a furious roar and swung her blade at him, all of them were moving so fast that to the Serpentinus onlookers it must have looked like six blurs moving around the room like glowing pinballs.

Ryan was able with a flurry of strikes to kick the weapon from her hand and instantly the room was filled with a mass of black smoke that morphed into ten other identical Scalathor but Liam and Ryan both saw right through her attempt at a Soul Split and both moved to cut her off from retrieving her weapon and then the others blocked both the door and her approach to the royal pack.

“There's no way out assassin, surrender, and we will spare your life” Ryan snarled approaching slowly with his twin sets of wrist blades extended.

“No one can stand against the will of the Dark Seed! No one! Soon you will see! Soon you will.......” she began yelling but while she had her attention focused on Ryan she hadn't noticed the vines creeping out of the wall behind her, and before she could even finish her sentence the vines shot right at her like a web of tentacles.

Two vines wrapped each wrist, two more got her ankles, another grabbed her tail and her waist and most importantly a rather thick meaty one-shot between her open jaws before wrapping itself around her snout and preventing her from biting down properly, she was utterly immobilized, Ryan had overheard the transmission from his father and had no intention of letting her kill herself, this one was going to talk.

“Gotcha,” Ryan said with a satisfied smile then he turned to Liam.

“Soul Knight Silver lets see if she's a puppet or a fanatic shall we?” he said and Liam nodded dropping his helmet and shaking his hair out, Liam instantly saw a look of surprise and confusion in the Scalathor's large red eyes.

“Let's see who's home,” Liam said, and he reached forwards and grabbed the scaly head of the struggling Scalathor.

“While you do that I'll call my Patriarch and let him know the threat is neutralized and that we have a prisoner,” Ryan said, and he opened his comms line.

“This is Seeker two one to both Seeker one one and the Dreamer, all Nightmare Assassins are down, one killed and one in custody, Seeker one-two is currently seeing what he can pull out of her, over,” he said into his comms.

The royal guards relaxed somewhat and Ciri and her pack slithered out from behind their protective wall closely followed by Celia and her pack.

“Roger that my beloved cub message received and understood, stand fast your Patriarch is on his way to you, Dreamer over and out,” Tik eleth's voice said over the comms.

“Message received Seeker two one we are five minutes out, Seeker one one over and out,” Jack's voice said.

Liam began to whisper a repeated chant over and over, “Honored souls of the fallen aid me, fill my soul with light so that I may penetrate the darkness withing this being, help me to extinguish the darkness in her soul and pull it back into the light, I am your brother humble and true, help me now” he said and smoke swirled from everywhere flooding Liam's body while his hair danced and crackled with electricity, as did his eyes and with a rush like he was falling down a well Liam plunged into her mind which she screeched like a gagged banshee.

Liam was plunged into a dark place filled with pain, he could feel it all around him, pain, fear, doubt, isolation, rejection and a whole host of other negative emotions swirled around him in the shadows of this dark formless place like predators waiting to pounce. Liam reached out with his mind into the darkness.

Suddenly a wash of images and memories rolled over him and what he saw brought tears to his eyes and ice to his heart, it showed this young Scalathor being taken as a child from her family, taken to a kind of military installation, where they ran all sorts of painful and horrific experiments on her, this lasted for a quite a while, day after day, week after week all the while her mind slipping away, it happened.

In all the darkness and all the pain a voice reached out to her, offered her a way to end the pain, to become strong, to become more than she was and to protect herself from any who would hurt her and without a seconds thought she took it and the Dark Seed was planted, now her mind no longer belonged to her, her consciousness and will be sealed away, leaving only the seed in its place.

That's when Liam saw her a little green and yellow Scalathor girl sat in the corner with chains wrapped around her, Liam walked towards her and as he approached she looked up at him, "Who are you?" she asked in a surprisingly soft voice.

Liam crouched down and looked at her, big yellow eyes tracked him and looked at him curiously, "My name is Liam Silver Mason" he said softly but cautiously.

"You shouldn't be here, the dark thing will be angry with me if you are here," the little Scalathor girl said her voice sounding frightened.

"Who are you?' Liam asked.

"My name is Leeona Longtail, you must go the dark thing will be really angry if you are here!" she said looking around with obvious and very real fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry it cannot hear us for the moment, the Scalathor military took you when they found out you were a Dream Warrior didn't they, took you to a place and hurt you, made you suffer you couldn't take any more, then just when you were about to break the Dark Seed offered you strength, a way to end the pain and you took it because you were scared and in pain, didn't you?" Liam said.

Leeona looked at him curiously, "You are like me aren't you? You can see into people's hearts, see who they really are, but you're a boy? Boy's aren't strong like girls are, so how can you do this?" she asked.

"They are where I come from, boys and girls are the same, no different other than the obvious, but they are equal, boys aren't superior to girls and girls aren't superior to boys, we are equal save for some biological differences that set us apart and make one side or the other better at certain things we are still equal" Lia,m said.

Leeona looked at him and he could feel her trying to make sense of what he was saying but as he could see in her mind this opinion that males and females were equal made no sense to her, on her world males were nothing more than breeding tools and slaves, nothing more than living breathing toys for female pleasure and they were treated as such, it was an awful existence and it brought tears to Liam's eyes as Leeona's memories were filled with experiences that she had seen and felt with her own mind and eyes, of her male hatch mates as they were sold off to the highest bidders like cattle, or given as gifts to high standing families for the use of their females to increase the status of her family.

The images made Liam seethe with rage as he saw them and felt her dismay upon seeing it, it was obvious she didn't feel like the vast majority of her population did, but there was a lot more to it than that, it was like so many of them utterly lacked empathy but it wasn't that they couldn't feel it, it was like it was suppressed somehow, the influence of this Dark Seek maybe?

Liam could feel the darkness all around him now, testing his defences for weakness to try and access his bubble of protection that was being reinforced by the souls of the fallen that had come to his aid, their energy flowing through him like an umbrella of light.

Liam crouched down infront of Leeona and looked into her bright eyes, "You don't have to be like this you know, you don't have to live like a prisoner in your own mind, on my world a few strong and courageous people made a civilization, humans don't even know that aliens exist and Yautja forbid any and all mating outside of their species to preserve their purity, any who break that rule for lust or for love are put to death, though predominately for their females as our Matriach explained to us when it came to their males it was common for Clans to turn a blind eye for a male taking a slave of another species and forcing themselves on them, but if a female took a male of another species as a mate they were both put to death, then there are the Xenomorphs who because of the unfortunate method of their birth are universally hated by all species and are generally exterminated as a nuisance and deprived of their right even exist, but we cured their problem and now they live free and peacefully on our world, infact they have helped it not only to thrive but to flourish, making exceptional medics, farmers, engineers and scientists, search my memories you will see what I am saying is true, we live in unity and in peace" Liam said reaching out and touching the side of Leeona's face.

Her eyes flickered as her mind was filled with more images of his homeworld, "I-I-It's beautiful" she stammered in utter shock looking at him with wide eyes.

But then her fear returned, "N-N-No I-I-I cannot disobey the will of the Dark Seed, it knows what's best, it protects me, makes me strong" she said and Liam shook his head.

"No it doesn't, you are strong without it, look at me, do you feel the darkness inside me? Do you feel the Dark Seed within me?" he asked.

Leeona looked at him in a very curious way, it was like her eyes were peering through his soul but that was what we wanted, he wanted her to see him as he truly was, so see the love in his heart of his people, his home and his pack, how he had come to an alien world light-years from his home to protect a species they had never met and how he had fallen in love with four of them who had fallen in love with him.

She began to pant and her eyes went misty, "It's beautiful, so beautiful, I wish my people were like yours, that they could see the strength in togetherness and unity, but no I do not sense any darkness in you, how are you so strong?" she asked.

"We train ourselves to embrace who and what we are, to strengthen our abilities, it helps that we are not feared on our homeworld, we are loved and respected as we love and respect those around us, our Lady of the Hunt Paya of the Yautja teaches us what true strength is, what honour is, we are offered a loving paradise for our service to her and our Clan, it is a powerful thing indeed," he said.

"I see it! It's wonderful, I-I-I wish I had your strength" she said in a forlorn sounding voice and Liam smiled.

"But you can be Leeona, believe in yourself, let me show you how to be strong, take my hands and let me show you our ways as I have seen yours," Liam said sitting cross-legged before her, he held out his hands to her and she looked at them for the longest time before with a deep and meaningful breath she reaches out and took them.

"Calm your mind, sheathe your fear like a sword sliding into a scabbard of hope, open your mind and let it take mine like taking my hand, let my heart beat with yours, let my breath fill your lungs," Liam said.

A soft golden light began to pour our of Liam like he was exhaling golden smoke, slowly it made it's way into Leeona's lungs filling her up, "Let the light fill you, feel it's warmth in your heart, let it push the darkness out of you, let its strength support you, I'm right here with you, I won't leave you" Liam said.

The darkness around his light bubble went absolutely ape shit, it tried everything to break into the protection bubble as it realized what was going on, because with every breath Leeona expelled black smoke through both her mouth and nose making her look like a dragon that had just finished breathing fire, the inky blackness outside the bubble upped its attack on them, Liam felt the pressure bearing down on them like having anvils placed on their chests.

He felt Leeona's strength wavering, "It's alright Leeona, don't scared, sheathe your fear just like I showed you," he said and he felt her fighting back and then with one last push she expelled the final amount of darkness from her soul, "Excellent! Now it's my turn, now let me show you what our kind are truly capable of" Liam said and he opened his soul.

"Honored spirits of the glorious dead I call to you for aid, help me drive this vile evil from the heart of our sister, let he breathe the free air again, help me bring her out of the shadows and into the light, in the name of Paya Lady of the Eternal Hunt and of the Great Tree the bringer of life, help me," Liam said casting his hands upwards.

Like sunlight breaking through a bank of thick clouds a ray of golden light burst forth burning the roiling blackness back making it screech in an echoing voice, spirits burst from Liam's chest like transparent golden echoes, they inverted the golden umbrella turning it into a golden bubble which it sucked the darkness from all around them into, when every single wisp of the darkness was pulled in Liam sealed it, it was the shape of a golden seed filled with very angry black smoke that roiled and fought, "Be free young one, let me carry this darkness for you, let me draw it like pus from a boil" he said.

He could see Leeona was scared but she nodded and with a tremendous force of will Liam pulled the darkness into himself surrounded in golden light supplied by the spirits and held in check with his power.

Back in the real world, Liam drew the blackness from Leeona's scales like he was washing jet black ink off her revealing the colourful scales under it, as he let go of her the blackness pulsed through his body momentarily turning his skin jet back while all present watched in curiosity and apprehension, especially from his pack, Celia, Leba, Veme and Sev were dancing around him very nervously, wringing their hands unable to sit still as they watched their beloved pack male fighting the powerful darkness.

"Don't you worry ladies Liam is the most powerful Soul Knight to exist second only to my Patriarch himself, if anyone can defeat this darkness, it is him, he fights with the strength of the entire Clan at his back and with the power of Lady Paya and now the Great Tree at his sides, he will defeat this darkness, just you watch, your male will be back in your arms and err coils where he belongs" Ryan said proudly and no sooner had the words left his mouth than Liam's skin changed back to normal and between his hands, a black orb in a seed shaped formed looking like it was made of ink floating in the air.

"By the power vested in me by Paya the Great Huntress and Goddess of the Eternal Hunt I banish you, go back into the void from where you came vile creature and bother the innocent no longer" Liam roared and with a flash, the black orb ignited in a ball of screaming golden fire that burnt it to nothing but ash particles.

The energy flowing through Liam subsided and he returned to normal, Ryan drew his mandibles up into a smile, "See? What did I tell you? A spirit made of fire this one" he said as he helped Liam back to his feet and clapped him hard on the shoulder as he looked at him with a confused smile.

Before he even had a chance to have ask what was going on or what he meant Celia and the others dove on him and he found himself in the middle of a ball made of undulating coils as each of them planted kisses and nuzzles on him, squeezing him tightly in their coils as they did.

Once his pack had finally released him from their embrace Liam was able to get back to his feet albeit a bit shakily, "I think it's safe to say you got the love of four good women there" Ryan said and Celia looked at him.

"A Serpentinus female protects her male and a good pack protects what is theirs and he is ours, no one else's, ours," she said with fire in her voice that made Ryan chuckle softly.

"I don't think you have to worry about young Liam here but it is good that you do, it shows your care," he said.

The royal guard had now surrounded Leeona who was still sat on the floor and looking very scared at the large females pointing weapons at her, "Stand down! She is no threat any more" Liam said and they glanced at him and then at their regent who along with her pack had slithered out from behind their living protective wall and were no looking at the frightened and unsure Scalathor girl.

"I never in my life would have believed such things possible, it was like witnessing our mythology come to life in this very room, it was like nothing I could have ever dared to dream about, it was like watching you suck someone's soul from their very body and burn it before our very eyes," Ciri said quietly in obvious awe of Liam.

"Not her soul Regent Ciri but the darkness that had infected it, it appears this Dark Seed is like a form of dark infection capable of overwhelming Dream Warriors and turning them into puppets, I saw this poor girls life and the numerous pains and indignities she suffered at the hands of her own people when they discovered what she was, then amid all that pain and fear a voice reached out to her in the dark, it offered her safety, strength and a life free from pain, who in her situation would refuse such offer?" Liam said looking at Leeona with pity in his eyes.

"Are you saying she was compelled to do these things?" Ciri asked curiously.

"Worse than that, compelling someone means there is still some iota of free will, but with this Dark Seed it imprisons the Dream Warrior in their own mind, then joy rides around in their body like a meat puppet, fully in control of that body and all of its abilities, we've seen something like this before or rather our Grand Patriarch, a Dark God called Loki did something similar to a female Yautja Dream Warrior called h'chak and turned her into one of the most fear Bad Blood clan leaders know to all the clans, she was a scourge on the galaxy till our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch defeated her troops and our Grand Patriarch freed her using his powers, but this......this is far worse," Liam said.

Ciri looked at him curiously, "How so?" she asked but it was Ryan who answered.

"Because whatever did this to her was able to imprison her in her mind using only a fraction of itself, it took all of Loki's strength to hold h'chak prisoner in her own mind as the mind of a Dream Warrior or Ghost Slitherer as you call us is a very powerful thing, a weapon like no other in the right hands, so to be able to hold such a thing using only a tiny fraction of yourself like that, a seed of yourself, it is a dire circumstance for all Dream Warriors everywhere and from what we have seen here it would appear that all of the Scalathorian Dream Warriors and maybe the Draconis ones too have already been enslaved to this create, force, entity, deity whatever the pauk it is and an army of dark Dream Warriors is not something anyone would wish to face," Ryan said with a shudder.

Liam stepped forwards and pushed through the royal guards, he crouched down in front of Leeona, "I'm taking her into the custody of the Seekers, she will be returned to our homeworld and taken to the Seeker temple" Liam said offering his hand out to the scared Scalathor girl.

"My Regent I must protest! This woman made an attempt on your life! She should remain a prisoner of the Serpentinus! This attack was on our soil and in the royal palace itself!" The captain of the royal guard yelled loudly.

Ciri looked between them and instantly she saw the Seekers present begin to close ranks, it was obvious to her that they protected their own as passionately as they themselves did, "No Seeker Silver is right, we would have no idea how to hold her and the way I understand it this is not her fault, we would be holding a person we know to be innocent of a crime they did not willingly commit, the Seekers have far more experience in these matters than we do so I believe it would only be smart to defer to them and Clan Mason" she said.

The royal guard captain opened her mouth to protest but Ciri gave her a look that said 'Fuck with me I dare you' and the captain promptly closed her mouth again, "Thank you Regent Ciri and I promise you we would not leave you in the dark on what we do find out" Ryan said and she nodded in thanks.

Literally, moments later Jack Mason and his team entered and his eyes scanned the room before locking on to the now very frightened Scalathor female, "Report" he said looking at his son.

"The Nightmare Assassins used a variant of cloaking similar to the one our Soul Knights used to slip passed us but they did not slip passed Seeker Silver, he stopped them dead here and protected both the Royal pack and his own, he also managed to pull off an extraction on her, pulled the Dark Seed right out of her, he did the Soul Knights and the Seekers proud Patriarch," Ryan said.

"He did his pack proud as well, it is almost unheard of for a male to be responsible to be forced to protect his pack as it the female's job to protect our valuable males, but he stood tall and proud in front of those that would wish both us and our beloved Regent harm and fought for all of us and he prevailed," Celia said very proudly as she and the rest of her pack slithered up to flank Liam.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Jack looked at the Serpentinus girls that were flanking Liam and he smiled, "Got yourself a fine loyal pack there Seeker" he said with a smile and this seemed to please Celia and the others.

"I'm sorry Grand Patriarch I was unable to contain the Dark Seed once I'd removed it and I felt that it was too much of a threat to be allowed to escape my grasp, so I destroyed it," Liam said sounding a bit despondent like he was worried that Jack would punish him.

Jack planted a hand on his young shoulder and smiled at him, "You protected the ones you love as well as the ones whose lives I placed in your hands but not only that but you pulled the essence of a dark force from the mind of a fellow Dream Warrior and freed her from a torturous horrific existence, you've done well this day young Seeker, you have made your pack proud, your Clan proud, the Seekers proud and you've made me proud young one, you saved many lives today, it would have been too easy for you to kill her once struck down but you didn't, you honoured both our Lady Paya and their Great Tree with your actions today, so puff your chest out and stand proud Liam, you've done well this day" Jack said.

Liam smiled proudly and Jack turned to the Scalathor girl who tried to hide behind Liam, "Do not be frightened young one, my name is Jack Mason I am Grand Patriarch of Clan Mason and leader of the Seekers of Truth, we're Dream Warriors like you" he said.

"Dream Warriors? What's that?" she asked her scaly face looking up at him?

"Its what we call people like us, people touched by the divines, granted abilities different to those of those around us, made us different from our brethren, which is both a blessing and a curse because to peoples who don't understand who and what we are we can be seen as a threat, it makes them fear us, but we come from a place where those differences are not feared, they are embraced," Jack said.

"The place Liam showed me in his mind, in his memories, the beautiful place filled with strange creatures and with love and pride, he called it the Seeker Temple," she said her voice surprisingly deep.

Jack nodded, "Yes it's on our homeworld and it really as beautiful as Liam showed you, our whole world is like that, a place of peace and unity, we will take you with us, we will show you a different way to live, we will give you a chance to be part of something bigger than yourself, something that will shield you from all harm and will protect you, all we ask is you show us what you know of the Dark Seed, help us and we will help you," he said.

"Y-Y-You will take me to the beautiful place? Like Liam promised me?" she said and Jack nodded.

"Then I agree, I don't know how much help I can be but whatever I do know I will share with you," she said and Jack smiled and helped her to her feet.

He looked at Ciri and the others, "This woman is now under the protection of Clan Mason and we will defend her" he said and Ciri nodded understanding him perfectly well.

"Do not worry Grand Patriarch she is released to you, it would be the least we could do considering all the aid that you have given us" she said and Jack nodded.

"Thank you, regent, I'd also like to inform you that we have not only found but offered the same amnesty to your Ghost Slitherers and they have accepted, they are as we speak aboard the Dreamer waiting to be taken back to the Seeker Temple for training," Jack said and this stunned Ciri.

"You would steal them from us?" she asked and Jack shook his head but before he could reply the door opened and a familiar face marched in.

"I swear if one more royal guard asks to see my identification I may just start feeding people their own tails and playing hoopla with them!" Tik snarled and Jack laughed and allowed himself to be embraced by his lifemate from behind.

"Regent Ciri may I introduce Grand Matriarch Tik eleth Mason in-person," Jack said and Ciri flicked her tongue and nodded.

"It is good to finally meet you Grand Matriarch," Ciri said and Tik smiled at her.

"And you Regent Ciri, I came down to inform you both that the Ghost Slitherers are all safely aboard the Dreamer and we currently have a lot of very curious Serpentinus slithering all over our ship who are very happy to meet everyone and everything, plus I needed some fresh air," Tik said with a smile.

"Why are you taking the Ghost Slitherers from us?" Ciri demanded looking at them both.

"We're not, we're taking them for training at the Seeker Temple, but I assure you we are not stealing them from you, believe it or not, most of them are very keen to lean our ways so that they can put them to use defending their home despite and I emphasise this word strongly past persecution and fear they have suffered at the hands of their own people," Jack said and suddenly Ciri looked rather embarrassed.

"If I may speak your highness?" Sev said suddenly drawing the Regent's attention and she nodded.

"It is indeed true that our Ghost Slitherers have suffered persecution in our past, there are well-documented hunts that had the sole purpose of hunting them down and destroying them out of fear that they were witches or demons, I believe that in more rural areas such superstitions may very well still be in effect," Sev said and Jack nodded.

He stepped forwards towards Regent Ciri, "With your permission Regent?" he said holding out and un-gloved hand, she looked at it curiously and flicked her tongue at it, but she nodded her consent and Jack touched her head and her eyes instantly flashed to match Jack's.

"W-W-What is this!?" she exclaimed.

"The memories of Vallaran the male leader of the Ghost Slitherer colony we found," Jack said softly.

"B-B-By the Great Tree! T-T-That's awful! Truly awful! That poor poor male!!" she exclaimed as Jack released her and he nodded.

"No one should ever have to experience something like that, being forced to slither this world alone at such a tender age like that! I-I-It shames me that not only one of our precious males was treated like this but one of our Ghost Slitherers, they are the blessed children of the Great Tree and we shamed ourselves by treating them this way" Ciri said with tears in her eyes.

Jack shook his head, "Fear is a powerful thing Regent and I have no doubt in my mind that my origin species would have a similar reaction if they found out there others like me among them, but you are all children of the Great Tree, every one of you and that's the point, you are all brothers and sisters of the Great Tree just as we are all brothers and sisters of our Lady Paya, you need to show your people that, teach them that Ghost Slitherers are nothing to be feared, they are beloved family members to be embraced, nurtured and loved, that way we will rob this Dark Seed of any more potential victims, at least Serpentinus ones" Jack said.

Ciri looked at Jack and then at her pack then at Liam as his pack moved around him both Celia and Leba both leaning on him and she nodded, "It seems that we owe you for far more than protecting our home Grand Patriarch and Matriarch, I had no idea that such injustice and appealing superstition was happening among my people, that our beloved brothers and sisters were being cast out of their packs and their homes to slither this world alone and afraid and I swear it to you upon my immortal soul before you and all gathered including the Great Tree herself, we will begin educating our people immediately, we will teach them of the Ghost Slitherers and te Dream Warriors and we will show them the kindness they showed us here today how they stood for us when we could not stand for ourselves and how our brothers and sisters are going to learn to stand for us as well" Ciri said with such fire and passion in her voice that it made both Jack and Tik smile and nod at one another.

Both Jack and Tik sat down with Ciri and the royal pack and they hashed out the details of their next move, Clan Mason had repurposed the two Scalathor frigates and repair crews already had them functioning to a decent degree and Jack could only imagine the Savior Xenos running all over the ship screeching at one another as they repaired things.

They agreed to leave some of their ships from their fleet here to protect the planet while their orbital defences were being both repaired and upgraded, Clan Mason were outfitting these orbital platforms with both heavy railguns as well as anti-ship torpedoes and missiles, they used a type of missile that used a multi-warhead missile that was designed to combat fighters and gunships and then heavy torpedoes that were designed to take down capital ships like the frigates, they would also share with them designs for ground-based weapons too protect the planet.

Regent Ciri also granted Celia and her pack permission to go with Liam and the rest of the Clan Mason leadership as they returned home, she also made plans to send an envoy to the Raptorians to warn them of a possible attack from the Scalathor, their fleet had also now returned to aid and protect their planet, granted it was not as powerful as the ships of Clan Mason, but Clan Mason also promised to help them with ship designs for their engineers to work with and they also began to draw up plans for both trade routes and Jack and Tik promised to work on way to open communications and promised to get their scientific hive working on the problem as soon as they got home, while Celia promised to work on getting an embassy up and running as soon as was possible.

So with the negotiations at an end, Jack and Tik made plans to return to the Dreamer along with most of their teams leaving one team of Hunters, a couple of teams of Saviors and a team of Battle Angels behind to help with the immediate rebuilding around the capital as well as helping the royal guard to protect the royal pack, Jack also assigned both Mav and Rita as the royal pack's personal Seeker bodyguards to prevent any sneak attacks by any Scalathor Nightmare Assassins their Ghost Slitherers were able to return and protect their people.

Though given the looks that Mav seemed to be getting by a few of the Royal guards when his time came to return Jack got the feeling he may very well may not be doing it alone, these Serpentinus girls sure weren't shy when it came to expressing interest.

Both Jack and Tik walked back onto the bridge of the Dreamer, "Well it's about time we got home wouldn't you agree my love?" Jack said with a smile and Tik draped his arms around his chest and pulled him into her.

"Music to my ears my love I yearn to feel solid ground beneath my boots again, I think I may have to go for a barefoot run in the forest when we get back, apart from that minor respite I have spent way too long cooped up on the ship, as a full-blooded Huntress my spirit yearns to run through forests and leap through the trees, Goddess I need a damn good hunt" Tik purred and Jack smiled.

"Sounds like you need a damn good something though I'm not sure it's a hunt though I'm pretty sure the thing involved rhymes with it though," Jack said giving Tik a playful grin and she purred very loudly and it drew looks from everyone on the bridge.

"Set a home course call us when we arrive then I simply dare one of you to interrupt us" Tik growled loudly and with that Jack found himself dangling from her shoulder and facing the bridge crew who all seemed to be grinning at him, he just grinned right back at them and shrugged, there wasn't a person alive brave enough to challenge Tik eleth's private time with her beloved male, a real emphasis on the word alive.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Liam's pack had made themselves at home in his quarters, his entire bed and been pulled off the frame and the mattress was on the floor along with every pillow he owned, right in the middle of said pillow pile was a rather obvious and familiar blue one that Leba was currently coiled upon, sometimes one needed the comforts of home even when you were far from it.

The Ghost Slitherers had certainly made themselves at home aboard, the mess hall was utterly filled with them and by all the screeching and hissing coming from the galley their chef was determined to impress, Liam had picked up all their meals to go which involved a service trolly to wheel it to his quarters and right now he was being set upon by four very hungry Serpentinus girls.

"Oh, you were right sister! Their food is utterly delicious! It utterly melts in the mouth" Leba said sitting back on her pillow and patting her belly and coils, the others nodded and agreed before the four of them slithered up to Liam and surrounded from all sides.

"It ha been a most exhausting day but I don't know about you my sisters but I do believe we owe our beloved male a display of our gratitude and love" Celia purred nuzzling his cheek and tickling him with her tongue before turning his face and slipping said tongue into his mouth.

"Mmmm I do believe your right sister, so why don't we get this suit off him and get comfortable because I don't about you but now my hunger is sated I find myself with a very different hunger and I know only one way and one person that can sate it," Veme said and before Liam could even squeak a reply he was flat on his back minus his suit and witnessed four sets of clothes being flung into the air, it was going to be a long night and he'd never been so glad of Seekers stamina before but he got the distinct feeling he was going to be very glad of it before this night was through.


	14. chapter 14

Chapter 14: Homecoming.

The Dreamer pulled into the huge berth that looked like a large metallic cradle in the space dock, the large heavy cruiser was locked into place by a series of large locking arms that reached out and gripped the hull with a series of dull metallic thuds that reverberated through the hull. 

This was followed by a series of large Flexi metal pipes that attached to the airlocks, the light above the airlock door changed from red to green as the pressure seal was checked and secured.

Liam tapped a few buttons and the inner door and outer doors opened at the same time this was the only time that both doors would open at the same time to prevent the ship from depressurising and venting everyone out into the vacuum of space.  
"Come on ladies we'll take the shuttle down to the surface from here," Liam said to his curious pack.

"Why don't we just take a shuttle from the ship to the surface?" Leba asked.

"Oh the Dreamer needs to refit and resupply, after the fights in orbit of your planet she'll need to restock her ammo not to mention her food supplies, she'll also download her data banks and sensor data, plus there's constantly shuttles running to and from the surface bringing people up to work and down to rest up, now there are going to be a lot of Xeno's in here so try not to mind the stares, they're a curious bunch at the best of times," Liam said with a smile.

"Do they live here?" Sev asked and there was a deep rumbly laugh from behind them and they all glanced back as they slithered and walked along through the tunnel.

It was Tik eleth and alongside her was Jack, "Trust me you're going to see where they live, they're kinda obvious, as are their mothers" Tik said with a grin.

Liam chuckled softly, "Understatement of the year right there Grand Matriarch," he said and the four Serpentinus looked confused.

"Don't worry young ones you'll see exactly what he's talking about soon enough?" Jack said.

Celia made a humph noise and frowned at Jack, "Who are you calling young ones? Leba here is thirty-two rotations old and I am thirty-one rotations, granted yes our species live for about two hundred and fifty rotations, but we are far from young, I would say our male is younger than even our youngest member Veme who is twenty-eight rotations" Celia said and Jack snorted loudly.

Celia looked at Liam who was just grinning at her, "Yeah ok you got me I am younger than you all, I'm twenty-five, but the humans of this world live to about four hundred years which I guess is the same as your rotations and the Yautja like our Grand Matriarch here can live to a thousand years" he said.

Celia's mouth dropped open and she looked at Tik in utter shock, "Don't worry young one I am barely in my first hundred years as is my beloved male, though as Lady Paya's chosen one he too has a Yautja life span to match mine so that as my chosen one we will never spend a single year apart or aggrieved at the loss of our other half" Tik said.

Leba sighed, 'That sounds so beautiful, to have your male bound to you for life like that" she said and Tik nodded.

"I am bound to him and he to me, he is the father of my cubs and the love of my life, spending every moment of the rest of my life hunting at his side is my distinct pride and honour," Tik said.

"As it is mine too, two halves of the same coin" Jack said giving Tik's huge arm a squeeze and her mandibles a stroke making her purr.

The door that separated the docking tunnel into the main ring, the huge orbital dock was one part space station one part construction berth for constructing new space vessels, also it was one part orbital defence platform armed to the teeth with large long-range naval class railguns and anti-capital ship missiles and torpedoes.

"We'll leave your official tour of the planet with young Seeker Silver here I'm sure he'll manage to stretch it to more than the inside of his quarters and bed-chamber, we have to go see some Xenos about getting a whole load of guns, really big ones," Jack said giving Liam a clap on the shoulder before heading off with Tik in tow giving them a wave as they passed.

"I wouldn't mind a tour of your bed chambers," Veme said sensually slithering in close and Liam chuckled softly reaching and stroking her head and snout.

"There will be plenty of time for that I assure you, but first many things to do and see, so come on let me show you paradise," he said.

"My version of paradise is you laid out on a blue pillow holding a desert rose in your teeth wearing nothing but a where's Leba look on your face" Leba mumbled and Liam snorted and felt his cheeks warm.

"You really like that pillow don't you?" he said with a smile and her hood flared slightly.

"I like what's laid on it in my dream a whole lot more," she said nuzzling him with her smooth snout.

That's when they caught sight of the space station properly and they all stopped and looked around in awe, "Oh wow look at this place, it's huge! You could fit out entire orbital defence network inside it and still have room!" Celia exclaimed, looking around at the huge cavernous space made up of a multitude of levels all rising around a central core that rose up like a huge metal pillar.

Liam led the girls across the main deck and they were utterly enraptured by all the colourful Xenos scurrying around in their multitude of uniforms, everything from engineers, to Battle Angels to Saviours, not to mention the Humans and Yautja that were here too, a lot of which turned to look as they saw Liam pass by with his four charges, many of which saluted him as he walked by.

"We call it North Star, it started life as a space station for early detection of anyone approaching our planet, but in their wisdom, our Grand Matriarch and Patriarch saw an opportunity to do more than simply watch the stars, so they had this place turned into a full-on space dock big enough to hold four ships like the Dreamer at the same time although we only have one in her class right now others are being constructed as I'm sure you saw on the way in, they are super heavy cruisers but are built to punch way above their weight and class, so basically pocket battleships, also capable of carrying and deploying a good number of troops into battle when needed, then provide orbital fire support, I've heard rumours that Yoshi and Cirtus's hive are working on a new kind of ship that will make the Dreamer look like a cargo shuttle but Goddess only knows with those crazy Xenos" Liam said as she shepherded his pack towards the shuttle bay.

"Yoshi and Citrus?" Sev asked curiously.

"Yeah don't worry you'll meet them soon enough, their hive is the centre of technological design and scientific study on our world, not to mention a place of learning, in fact all of the hives are, Zara and Cortez's hive is our place of medical study and healing, its a giant hospital dedicated to saving every life that enters through its doors, it were all out Battle Angels come from, then there's Murphy and Aine's hive, they have turned a large section of the planet into a farm designed to grow our food while protecting the planet's ecology," Liam said proudly.

All of them looked impressed, "I would love to see that, I bet our farmers would love to get a look at something like that, our kind were once solely carnivorous but we evolved to become omnivores with time though a great many of us still eat a primarily carnivorous diet" Veme said and Liam nodded.

"Humans are pretty much the same, though we have extremes on both ends of the spectrum, some eat only meat, some eat only vegetables, though most eat a mixture," he said as he shepherded them into the shuttle and guided them to the seats, it was rather interesting watching them trying to figure out how to effectively sit in seats designed for people with legs, but they managed to part their pert rear ends on them eventually.

Liam dropped into the pilot's seat and strapped himself in, he quickly powered the shuttle up and went through his preflight checks before requesting both launch permission from air traffic control and also landing permission from ground control stating both his identification and clearance levels, Seekers had higher clearance than most and as second in command of the Soul Knights Liam's was pretty much as high as it got.

All was granted so he flipped the comms to the passenger area, "Ok ladies hold onto those cute scaly rears of yours here we go" he said as he lifted off from the landing pad.

The small interplanetary shuttle didn't have any weapons as it was a little surface hopper designed to ferry people from the surface to a ship or the orbital platform, not to fight battles.

"Wow look at all that blue and green! It's beautiful" Celia's voice came over the comm and Liam glanced back into the crew area and found them all craning their necks to look out of the same porthole that was in-between their seats which were affixed to the bulkhead.

These shuttles had four rows of twenty seats but thanks to their VIP and diplomatic status they had the whole shuttle to themselves.

"Hold on girls atmospheric entry in ten seconds," he said and the girls gripped their seats as the shuttle began to shake as they hit the outer atmosphere, flames began to lick the outside of the ship sending yellow and orange tounges running all over the glass.

Liam was an experienced pilot as were all of the Seekers, their Grand Patriarch insisted on making sure that they trained to operate any vehicle they may come across, so Liam could fly anything from a shuttle like this one to a huge starship like the Dreamer, they could also drive any vehicle they came across, it was the same for the Hunters, their Grand Matriarch was just as fastidious with her training as her beloved husband.

Soon enough the shaking stopped and the flames dissipated as they breached the atmosphere and the dove into the incredibly blue sky, "Coming up on the capital on your left now" Liam said as he took them down, the girls all crowed the porthole again.

"Oh wow look at that! It's beautiful" Leba said.

"What are those large conical like structures outside of the main city?" Veme asked upon seeing the huge structures.

"Those are the Xeno hives, on the east side you have Citrus and Yoshi's hive, on the west Aine and Murphy's that's the one in the centre of the plains, the one to the north at the top of the large hill is the hive of Zara and Cortez, the home of the Battle Angels," Liam said.

He circled the city, "Do you see that large almost pyramid-like building with all the rather angular ceilings towards the jungle side?" he asked.

They all looked around and Sev pointed it out, "There that one" she said.

"That's the Seeker temple, where I call home," he said glancing back and he could see their tounges attempting to smell the temple through the sealed glass porthole making him chuckle softly.

The landing site was in walking distance from Citrus and Yoshi's hive and no sooner had he set down he found his girls up and ready to go, they were chomping at the bit to get out there and see his homeworld, they immediately slithered up to him and flanked him.

Liam opened the door and there was a hiss as the pressure seal broke and fresh air filled the cab, as the loading ramp dropped Liam immediately saw a group of Xenos approaching them all wearing lab coats, "Welcome! Welcome! Oh our king and queen will be so pleased to meet you" the first Xeno a female said happily.

She was wearing a voice modulator collar which glowed like a little green gem around her throat so they could understand her, "We are very happy to be here and I look forwards to meeting you king and queen" Celia said in her best diplomatic voice making the female Xeno that Liam knew to be called Fex smile brightly.

Liam led the group towards the entrance to the hive and he saw his girls looking around the huge entrance in awe, "Is this place.....organic?" Leba exclaimed reaching out and touching the organic polymer that made up the walls.

"Yup, the entire place was constructed from scratch by our queen for her and our king to live in, once they had their first children we all helped to improve and enlarge it, my species secrete a natural organic resin that we can use to construct what we need, over the years we have found numerous applications for it as well as that when it is combined with various elements produces incredibly strong and lightweight building materials that are utterly weatherproof when set," Fex said proudly as she led the four Serpentinus and one human Seeker inside the hive.

A few winding corridors later she led them out into the gigantic lab area and all four of the Serpentinus stopped dead and looked in utter shock and awe at the sight that greeted them, "Welcome to our home, the leading scientific, engineering and research facility in Clan Mason, if it beeps whirs or clicks, we've broken it apart figured it out and made it better right here" Fex said with obvious pride.

No matter how many times he saw this sight it never failed to impress Liam, the entire place was one gigantic lab, cubicles all around them with Xenos in lab coats scurrying around screeching and hissing at one another as they discussed the inner workings of the universe as they knew it, projectors and whiteboards were everywhere and groups of Xenos with both Yautja and humans among them also in lab coats or engineering overalls were stood discussing various problems.

This place always made Liam smile, it was a testament to interspecies co-operation, all of them here with one singular purpose, to understand everything they could and to teach that knowledge to others, it was a superbly beautiful thing.

Seemingly out of no-where a huge black shape morphed out of the shadows of one of the huge corridors and as one all four of the Serpentinus girls mouth's fell open, "Ahh Celia, Leba, Sev and Veme Dimondscale it is my distinct pleasure to introduce the queen of this wonder of learning and knowledge, queen Citrus and her human King Yoshi" Liam said gesturing to the utterly enormous Xenomorph that stood before them regarding them curiously.

"So these are the Serpentinus that my beloved children have been in such a tizzy about, it is so good to finally meet you, ever since my beloved children started receiving the reports on your species our hive has been buzzing with excitement, my children utterly love to learn about new forms of life and to meet new people," Citrus said her voice husky and warm, she too was wearing a voice modulator collar like a large green dog collar around her long neck.

Celia was the first to recover her senses after meeting the huge Xenomorph queen, Liam had kinda guessed this would happen to see a Xeno was one thing but either a Praetorian or a Queen were utterly on a whole new level what with their size and their sheer presence, but it was always funny to see both the shock of seeing one and then the confusion when you realized it was friendly.

"Queen Citrus its an honour to meet you and to welcomed into your hive which I must say I don't even have the words to adequately express how impressive it is, our beloved male told us of it of course but even his eloquent words don't do this place justice, it is a true marvel to behold," Celia said gripping Liam's arm lovingly and tightly, Citrus who's collar acted as a Universal translator drew up and smiled both happily and proudly.

"I am glad you think so Celia Dimondscale and it pleases me to hear that your male speaks so highly of us," Citrus said turning her huge head to look at Liam giving him something of a sly smile, Yoshi stepped forwards and as usual he had an array of magnifying and scanning devices on his head that kinda looked like a seriously kick-ass jewellers lurve.

"Ahh this is my beloved male, my human king and the brightest star of my heart Yoshi," Citrus said introducing the rather shy and softly spoken Japanese man who was now blushing at his queen's loving introduction, but let's be honest he didn't need to be loud and aggressive when he had his queen at his back, there wasn't a being alive who still had the sense they were born with who would fuck with him, there was a saying on this world, 'Hurt a king and face his queen'

"It is so good to finally meet you all, the hive has been getting near-constant updates since the Dreamer came back into Clan Mason space and everyone has just been utterly buzzing with anticipation, a new race, new biology to study, new ways of thinking to analyse, new technology to investigate, such a joy all around and I'm hoping its the same for you to meet us," Yoshi said in that infinitely soft voice of his.

"Oh yes indeed both my pack sisters Leba and Veme here are our chief surgeon and chief bio researcher, they have been utterly relishing the chance to speak to your best scientific and medical minds to swap and discuss theories and data, not to mention Sev here is our chief historical chronicler and historian, I know she would utterly relish the chance to get a look at your history," Celia said proudly indicating each of her pack sisters in turn.

"If you would like Veme I can introduce you to our beloved children who run our bioscience and research division, they work under a Human scientist called Grace I'm sure she'd be utterly thrilled to meet you and to discuss ideas with you and oh please do excuse the energy, Xenos gets very energetic when they get excited," Yoshi said.

"Yes please I'd love to," Veme said and Liam gestured with his hand for her to follow Yoshi who led her through the hive, Liam instantly heard the shrieks and hisses of the surprised Xeno's who now had an alien in their midst and Liam saw the clamour to get a look at her and instantly Veme found herself shaking hands with an ever-extending queue of exited Xeno's.

Liam chuckled softly and turned back to Citrus who was watching her husband lovingly, "Would you like to lead the tour queen Citrus?" Liam asked and the big Xeno smiled and nodded leading the way with her long tail swishing behind her as she showed the ever-curious Serpentinus girls around the hive.

"This is truly a marvel queen Citrus, what you and your family have created here is utterly magnificent, I cannot wait to tell my people of this place," Sev said and Citrus smiled at her.

"Thank you Sev Dimondscale your kind words do you honour, you should meet Lelia Ridgeclaw, she's the head arbiter and historical chronicler, I'm sure you two would have a lot to talk about," Citrus said causing Sev to smile brightly.

"Thank you queen Citrus I will do that," she said.

Once they'd managed to pry Veme away from her new friends with a promise to return later and to continue the verity of conversations she'd been having Liam led the girls from the hive and out into the city, they slithered about looking at absolutely everything, every blade of grass, every flower, every person who stopped to greet them in the street.

Though Liam had to admit watching them in the park as they passed through to head on up to the arbiters before they were to head up to Zara and Cortez's hive to meet the king and queen of the Battle Angels.

In the park there were children of all races playing together chasing each other around, playing and climbing on special built frames, they were being watched over by proud parents of all races who were either playing with the children or stood chatting together, they were a mixture as diverse as they offspring were.

Hunters, Saviors, simple civilians all equals and all proud of their young as they rightly should be, the products of their love made flesh, the Clan's greatest strength and resource happily running around and playing with their friends and siblings.

The second one of them set eyes on the four aliens in their midst they all stopped what they were doing and ran over to Liam, all four of the Serpentinus girls were positively gushing at the sight of the children, "Oh wow Seeker Liam they're really pretty! Who are they?" a young pureblood human boy called Trevor said looking up at Leba with wide brown eyes.

"This is my pack, and they are my wives, this is Celia, Leba, Veme and Sev Dimondscale, they are Serpentinus a new species who want to be our friends, our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch brought them here to show them our home and to show them our way of life so that they can see what good people we are," Liam said in a soft voice.

"That's Silver Dimondscale, we have your name now as you have ours beautiful husband, don't forget you are now Liam Silver Mason Dimondscale," Leba said with a smile followed by affectionate nuzzle to his cheek.

"What did she say?" Trevor asked and Liam realized they didn't have UT's to translate, he held up a finger and he began chanting till his eyes flashed and lit up with glowing bright blue energy, reaching out he connected to the minds of all of them including the parents and transferred the Serpentinus language to them getting a collection of ohhh's and ahhh's as they all marvelled at the display of Dream Warrior power.

"There we go now you can understand them," Liam said as the parents all came over to look at them as well.

"I keep forgetting that people don't understand our language because everyone aboard the Dreamer could speak it," Sev said and all the children looked at her happy because they could understand her now.

"Don't worry the returning Seekers will ensure that it becomes widely understood, it is a simple thing for us communicate language like that, so we'll make sure you and the Ghost Slitherers will be understood?" Liam said.

"Oh wow you're so big and long and your tail is really shiny, plus your scales are really pretty, I like green, green is my favourite colour," Trevor said looking at Sev's tail.

Sev made a squee noise holding her hands against her chest and before anyone could say anything she plucked Trevor off the ground and cuddled him against her, "Human younglings are so cute!!!" she squealed joyfully as she cuddled the giggling boy.

Liam saw all the parents bristle as one as their protective instincts kicked in, especially that Yautja, it was hard-wired into them to protect cubs, it didn't matter who's they were any one of them would fight to their dying breath so that any cub might live.

Liam held up a hand to show them that it was alright and that she meant no harm, "Oh it fills my heart with so much joy that our younglings might grow up in such a beautiful place, that our sons and daughters will have friends of many different races, that our daughters when they form their own packs, will have beautiful males like this one to form their own pack with, exotic and handsome just like our own beloved husband" Sev said placing Trevor back down and slithering up to Liam and wrapping him.

The parents looked at him curiously and there were a few sly and amused smiles among them, "Just as long as they don't start taking too many pretty oomans away from the Yautja" one of the Yautja mothers said with a smile as she rubbed her human husband's hair playfully.

"Or the Xenos," a Xeno mother said wrapping her tail around her human husband possessively and protectively.

Liam chuckled softly, "I think our pure blood population is more than healthy enough for everyone to be happy including our new friends here," he said.

"Can I touch your tail please?" a young Yautja girl asked Leba who's hood gave her surprise away but she nodded her consent and the smiling girl put her hands on Leba's long tail and a moment later they were all at it, laughing joyfully as they all felt the girls shiny and smooth scales.

Sev showed off that despite her smaller size than the others she was strong by lifting a few up wrapped in her tail making them shriek with delight as they clung on while Sev swung them around, it made Liam smile seeing how easily his pack adapted to being around all the other races and easily they took to it.

Liam saw the streaks in the sky of the other shuttles coming down, he knew most of them would be bound for the Seeker temple as they would be ferrying down Ghost Slitherers for training, so their first stop would be to get them settled in the large barracks that place had.

Jack had built the place much larger than was strictly necessary with the hope that one day it would be full of warriors from all over the Galaxy trained to do good and to fight for good.

It had a large barracks just like the Hunter proving grounds for single Seekers to live in, those that had a mate or indeed family lived in either their own home or the larger mated quarters on the upper levels, the barracks itself was underground hidden directly beneath the temple to protect the Seekers in case of a preemptive orbital strike on the place, Jack had wanted to make sure that his Seekers had a chance to live and get in the fight should such an event occur, hence why it was built like a reinforced bunker, lots of concrete reinforced with layers of both ceramic and the special metal they refined here to make it blast-proof.

Liam smile when he thought of the little ones the Ghost Slitherers had brought with them being allowed to come here to make new friends and to play with them, it would be the first time in their lives they would be able to slither around in the open-air freely without fear of persecution, they would be as free as anyone else and able to enjoy their little lives because here they were safe, here they were protected, here Clan Mason would tear apart anyone who tried to harm them ever again.

Once the pack waved goodbye to the kids and their parents Liam lead them towards the arbiters, all of the Clan Mason arbiters were Saviors, trained as both chroniclers and police, they were dispensers of justice in the Clan on the supremely rare occasion that someone broke their laws, but to be fair the only real thing they ever had to do and even that was rare was break up a fight when a couple of the Yautja girls got into an argument over a human boy, though thanks to the mate hunt or the battle royale these fights were usually the result of a whose woman was the stronger argument.

As such the arbiters didn't have a whole lot to do in the way of peacekeeping, instead mostly what they did was chronicle the events that happened and organised the mate hunts and battle royales which to be fair kept them rather busy, as there were always petitions to hunt flying around.

The arbiters office was in the centre of the city itself so they drew rather a lot of attention slithering along through the city streets, but the atmosphere was both curious and friendly rather than confrontational, with Liam's pack waving to onlookers and getting greetings and waves in return.

Liam held the large door open for his girls to slither inside the office and straight away he was met by Nyx a large male Yautja arbiter with white and black snow camo like skin.  
"Ahh Seeker Silver it is good to see you," he said smiling and waving as the Seeker approached with his pack in tow.

"Actually its Seeker Dimondscale now," Liam said with a smile.

"Silver Dimondscale" Sev corrected happily and Liam chuckled.

"Yeah my name and the title is a bit long to say all of it so just rank and last surname will do," he said.

"Oh? I assume it has something to do with our new friends here?" Nyx asked looking up at the Serpentinus girls encircling him and his large marble desk that sat in the centre of the well-decorated arbiters lobby.

The arbiters office was a large place and the lobby they were currently in had a large marble floor with the Clan Mason symbol in the centre of it with an inscription in both Yautja, Xeno and English written around it, 'What heroes achieve we remember, for we stand on their shoulders as their sacrifice for us all lifts us all towards the heavens' it read.

"Yup the beautiful ladies here are my wives, I'm part of their pack now and proudly so, oh here allow me to impart their language to you so you can speak to them," Liam said reaching out towards Nyx who leaned his large decorated head forwards his little dread charms jingling as he did.

There was a brief flash as Liam gave him the Serpentinus language, "Thank you kindly Seeker Sil....err Dimondscale, wow that's going to take some getting used to and damn I'm going to have to send out notifications to all those that put a hunting request on you, lotta girls were hoping to bag themselves an ooman Seeker boy or as Vivi would say 'A succulent slab of ooman Dream Warrior beef'" Nyx said with a grin as he did quotation fingers for that last part.

"Doing rather bad impressions of me again Nyx?" a deep growly voice form their left said and they all turned to see a rather gargantuan Yautja female standing nearly 9ft tall with muscles in places most humans didn't even have places, her skin was bright yellow and black almost like desert camo.

Nyx grinned at her, "I think I'm getting better with every attempt boss" he said and Vivi laughed.

"Well you got one thing right, gonna be a lot of disappointed Yautja girls out there now Seeker Silver here is spoken for, yours truly among them, I would have very much liked to have gotten a chance to taste said slab of succulent Dream Warrior ooman beef," she said with a rather predatory smile at him that made his girls move in close and flank him on all sides protectively.

Vivi laughed when she saw this and smiled at them, "Oh calm down ladies you have nothing to fear from me, I am a proud Yautja huntress and arbiter of Clan Mason, I would never in a million lifetimes touch another females claimed male, especially when said male could kick my sculpted arse clear across this building before I could blink, there is a reason my people revere Dream Warriors and if you've ever seen your husband here fight you know what it is, but I can still look, admire and pine can't I? Jealousy is not unnatural" she said with a grin that made his girls relax somewhat.

"Well I'd better get adding Seeker Dimondscale to the married and unable to be hunted or petitioned list, plus I'll need to add the names and details of his wives," Nyx said tapping at a computer.

"No problems, girls if you would be so kind," Liam said gesturing to Nyx and his girls slithered up to him to begin giving him their details so they could be registered as not only his wives but as members of Clan Mason as was tradition, anyone who married a member of the Clan was made members by default.

"Well, I'm going to head over to the Seeker temple and start collecting all the details of these what did the Grand Patriarch call them.....Ghost Slitherers, yes that's it before they slither off and I have a job trying to hunt them all down" Vivi said.

"It's not like you to turn down a good hunt Vivi, not going soft are you?" Liam joked playfully and Vivi growled at him making all of his girls bristle as if getting ready to leap to their male's defence.

Then Vivi roared with laughed and smacked her arse with a resounding slap that echoed around the chamber, "There is nothing soft about this girl I can tell you that" she said and Liam laughed.

"Now all you need is a good ooman to appreciate all that.....hardness," he said and she gave him a grin.

'Well I guess you're off the cards, oh well guess I'll have a little poke around the Seeker temple while I'm there see if I can catch any pretty ooman eyes" she said and with a wave over her huge shoulder, she was gone.

Celia looked at Liam for an explanation, "Oh, don't mind Vivi I've known here since I was younger than the kids you met in the park, she's a merciless flirt but she's harmless, well in the sense of her being a nine-foot tower of muscle whose job it is to break up other fighting towers of muscle who are arguing over who's human is prettier, but truly she's a sweetheart if anything I feel a little sorry for her at times" Liam said and out of the corner of his eye he saw Nyx nodding in agreement.

"Sorry for her? Why?" Leba asked.

"She just never seems to have any luck in the love department, every time she thinks she's got her sights sets on a human someone snatches him away before she has a chance to act, it's a real pity she has a lot to offer any human who would be lucky enough to catch her eye", Liam said.

"As I remember she put her name on the list of those who wished to hunt or battle for you didn't she Seeker?" Nyx said and Liam nodded.

"Before I signed my non-consent form yeah," Liam said.

"You signed a non-consent form to not be hunted? Why?" Sev asked curiously tickling his ear with her tongue as she slithered up to him.

"I wasn't ready, I was still too young and I wanted to focus on becoming a proper Seeker, I didn't think it would either be fair to me or whoever caught me as I wouldn't be around most of the time, so I signed the form and put myself off-limits," Liam said.

"I know this sounds selfish but I am glad you did, it meant that we got to meet you and claim you," Celia said and Liam smiled.

"Had you been here at the time you would have been denied the right of claim" Nyx said and Celia and the others looked at him in surprise.

"He's right, Clan Mason's laws are strict but fair, when a situation where multiple people wish to stake a claim to a person to avoid conflict and arguments a hunt or battle royale is declared, for you see it believed that Paya will only guide the one who loves that person the most, the one who's love is strongest and will make that person truly happy for life, so we place our fate in that hands of the goddess of the hunt and let her guide us, for you see she doesn't only guide the hunter but the hunted too, she shields them from those that are not meant for them and guides them to where they need to be to meet the one meant for them," Liam said proudly.

"So what if none of them is worthy?" Sev asked in a fascinated voice, Liam noticed she was taking notes and it made him smile.

"Then the hunted escapes and the hunt is declared over and the hunted are free to choose their fate or to join the hunt for another" Nyx said.

"Hmmm it is an odd system but I can see the fairness in it and in a sense we also took part in it, because maybe just maybe your Lady Paya or maybe our Great Tree guided you to us, to the ones who will love you for the rest of your life as we know you will love us for the rest of ours," Sev said gently and slowly wrapping herself around him before being joined by her sisters in the love wrap.

After they were done there Liam took the girls to visit the giant farm hive of Aine and Murphy and the girls utterly revelled in watching the various Xeno genus out working the fields with their king and queen hard at work alongside them, growing, nurturing, tending and caring for all the vegetables, herbs and plants under their care as they fought to feed their Clan.

Then it was on to the giant hive hospital and the home of the Battle Angels, it appeared they were already busy, the Ghost Slitherers had all been brought here for examination and medical clearance by the hive, though it appeared most of the female Xenos were cooing and fussing over the Ghost Slitherer children, it seemed that their cuteness had a real effect on the girls as they were screeching and hissing happily while hugging them and making a big fuss of them.

It also seemed that queen Zara wasn't immune from their overwhelming cuteness either as she was currently cradling four of them in her multitude of arms, she was hissing and cooing at them softly and it was obvious that the children trusted the huge Xeno queen, they were giggling and hugging her while Cortez was standing to one side smiling at his huge love.

"She's the most natural mother you could ever imagine, I suppose it goes with the territory of having such a large family," he said with a proud smile when he saw Liam and his girls watching the scene before them.

Liam chuckled and nodded, "Oh don't worry I know what kind of mothers Xeno queens are, ain't too many beings stupid enough to mess with a Xeno when their mother's around, it's like poking a sentient bulldozer with a stick," he said with a grin.

"Ahem that's an incredibly sexy and ravishing bulldozer thank you very much," Cortez said with a playful smile that he shot at his beloved queen who displayed her incredibly sensitive hearing by flicking her tail at him and giving him incredibly gentle and playful swat across the rear with it making Liam laugh.

"Well if you have the time I'd like to get my gorgeous wives medically certified and cleared and if possible I'd like to let them have a look around the hive, the very lovely Leba here the owner of the sexiest hood around and queen of the blue pillow is chief surgeon among her people and is utterly fascinated by our medical tech and procedures," Liam said making Leba's hood flare out in embarrassment.

"See? What did I tell you? Have you ever seen such a sexy hood?" Liam said playfully embarrassing Leba even further and making her hood flare to full mast, making him reach out and stroke it playfully and gently, it was only fair with all the surprise wrappings they gave him that he got his own back sometimes.

"Blue pillow?" Cortez asked obviously confused and Liam chuckled.

"An inside joke, my sexy little cobra really loves her blue pillow and is very defensive of it is all," Liam said with a soft smile.

"Her little blue throne," Celia said with genuine warmth in her voice as she looked at her sister.

Cortez smiled and nodded obviously understanding, with as many sons and daughters as he had he must have many inside jokes, "Come on I'll give you the tour myself, I doubt I could pry my large love away from the Ghost Slitherer children if I tried and I'd need a seriously big pry bar to pry my daughters off them" Cortez chuckled as he glanced over to the big throng of cooing Xeno girls.

The medical went quickly one of the male Xenos a Praetorian conducted their checks and pronounced them all fit and free of contagions, once that was done the male called Farran took Leba to give her a detailed run of their medical procedures while Cortez took the others on a little tour.

Once they were done and they all met back up again Leba said she would be eager to return as the medical tech and procedures of Clan Mason were astounding to her and there was a lot for her to learn and to take back to aid her people.

From there Liam finally led them to the Seeker temple and all of them sat there in utter awe gazing up at the huge building which now had Ghost Slitherers slithering about exploring and talking to their fellow Dream Warriors as the Seekers made their distant brethren welcome in their home, "Come on girls you let me into your home and your hearts now let me let you into the one of those two I haven't already shown you" he said smiling.

The group followed him through the gates and almost immediately they saw Zed and his pack running around the gardens being chased by laughing and shrieking Ghost Slitherer children who were playing with huge gentle fire tigers, one of the children was riding on Zed's back his tail wrapped around the fire tiger's midriff holding on tightly. 

On a bench nearby Analise was sat with Kelmar watching the tigers and the children play and they appeared to be laughing together, which was good to see, Liam couldn't even begin to imagine the horrors that poor Draconis had endured in his young life and now here he was sitting in a huge garden surrounded by beauty guarded by a plethora of warriors who would die for him in a heartbeat as he was one of them now, a member of the Clan and as such he carried the promise of their strength everywhere he went.

Liam lead them down to his quarters which were a fair bit larger than they were on the ship, more like an apartment than a set of quarters, Jack Mason made sure every one of his Seekers lived in comfort as a reward for their service to the Clan, he had a lounge, his own kitchen, a large bathroom and a decent sized bedroom with a double Yautja sized bed to accommodate Seekers with a partner, it was the universal standard here.

The girls slithered all over the place investigating absolutely everything, that's when Leba froze in the lounge and made a squealing noise, there in the middle of the room next to the small dining table, was her blue pillow.

She slithered over to his and coiled herself upon it with a big happy smile on her face, that's when Sev let out a squeal of her own and slithered over to the bookcase on the far side of the room, where she found her books had been placed among his own Liam had gone to great lengths to ensure that their personal items brought from home were not just smuggled out of the Dreamer but placed in among his own things here in his home, in order to make them feel just at home here as he did, the Xenos could be a rather sneaky bunch when they wanted to be.

Once he'd settled them in and they utterly destroyed his bedroom turning the bed into a kind of rats nest of blankets and pillows, Liam knew how they liked to sleep at home and it made sense that they'd turned it into communal sleeping space for them all, now all he had to do was figure out a way for them to bask, though to be fair they were in the middle of summer here, though it might be somewhat distracting to have a load of naked Serpentinus lounging around the garden, so it might be worth putting in a call to Yoshi and Citrus's hive to get some basking lamps set up for them.

After a brief call to the hive Liam took the girls on a tour of the Temple, they watched the Seekers training and learning the skills of their trade, watching Tamers learning how to commune with the nature all around them, watching Soul Knights speaking with the spirits of the honoured dead.

Eventually, they returned to the gardens where a large amount of the Ghost Slitherers had gathered predominantly males, Jack appeared to be in the middle of them and Tik was sat on one of the benches surrounded by curious Serpentinus children who were utterly fascinated by the huge proud huntress, their little tounges flickering at her constantly and Tik seemed as enthralled with them as they with her.

"Ah Liam good timing, the Ghost Slitherers want to perform a ritual for us to thank us for bringing them here, take a seat this ought to be interesting" Jack said gesturing to a bench and as Liam sat the male Ghost Slitherers grouped together in a circle entwining their tails in a knot, they all faced inwards, suddenly it occurred to Liam where he'd seen this before, they were going to dance, Jack was right, this was going to be interesting indeed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Soothing the Soul.

Analise leaned back on the bench as the Serpentinus Ghost Slitherer males formed a large circle in the centre of the Temple garden, Kelmar was perched on the edge of his seat watching them curiously.

Though to be fair Analise found herself watching Kelmar curiously, the pretty Draconis boy was utterly fascinated by absolutely everything, it was just so adorable to just watch him, for the first time in his young life he was free of pain, of shame, of fear and even in this short time he was utterly blossoming.

He had such a thirst for knowledge and understanding which was so beautiful to see, he had revealed to her as they had been talking that on his homeworld males were not educated, they were not taught how to read or write and the more she thought about that the more Analise believed it was because if their males were educated then they would rebel against their living conditions and how they were treated.

Now as she watched him she couldn't help but find herself smiling at him as his eyes positively lit up as he watched the Serpentinus males readying themselves, but then her attention was drawn by something else beautiful, the male Ghost Slitherers began to sing.

It was incredible, their voices were so utterly soft and melodic and they were in perfect harmony, they began to sway in perfect sync with their singing, moving in a perfect circle with their tails entwined.

Analise didn't know what they were singing as it was a mixture of chanting and singing but it was obvious they seemed to be tying their powers into their singing, literally, everyone had stopped to watch and listen to them.

Tendrils of light began to reach out from their circle and began to touch the Dream Warriors in the group around them, as a glowing tendril reached out to Analise but it didn't invade her more like it offered her something if she chose to accept it, she felt nothing bad or insidious about it so she just accepted it and let them in. 

The tendril snaked its way into her soul and slithered its way through her like a little Serpentinus made of pure light, Analise felt her soul being soothed like a cool balm was being spread over it, suddenly Analise began to feel the words of the song they were singing resonating through her and she began to see images flashing before her mind's eye.

It took a moment for Analise to realise what she was seeing, but the more they sang the clearer the images became, it was the Ghost Slitherers history woven into a song before she knew what was happening she began to hear the words before they were sung and they began to flow through her too.

Kelmar turned to look at Analise as she began to sing along in perfect harmony with the Ghost Slitherers and it wasn't only her, Liam and even Jack were both singing in perfect harmony with the Ghost Slitherers as they all relived their history through song and Analise could feel them writing and singing a new verse to celebrate Jack's team finding them and saving them completely on the fly.

In fact, before long all of the Dream Warriors present were singing along with their new brothers and now sisters two as the female Ghost Slitherers had joined in with their sons, fathers and brothers as well, in fact they had formed a much larger ring around the circle of males to show unity and their protective nature of their boys.

But the most touching thing was that they brought the Dream Warriors into their circles to sing with them and to show them that they accepted them as brothers and sisters in arms, well that was until Kelmar decided to show off an amazing talent of his own when not only did he begin singing along in perfect harmony with the others despite not being joined by the Dream Warrior link, as it turned out Draconis boys were so used to being made to perform for their mistresses that singing and dancing came naturally to him.

As it also turned out Kelmar had an absolutely beautiful singing voice, the surprise was utterly evident on the Ghost Slitherer's faces and no sooner had he opened his mouth and revealed that he didn't just look like a red scaly angel but sound like one too they reached out and pulled him into the centre of their circles and the beautiful little Draconis found himself surrounded by love.

Eventually, the history and celebration song came to an end and the circles broke apart, Jack and Liam along with Liam's new pack were thanking and truly welcoming the Ghost Slitherers to the Clan and the Temple, there were handshakes and hugs all around.

Suddenly Analise felt a rather large hand on her shoulders and she jumped and looked to find Ryan smiling at her, "He's quite the singer that little dragon of yours isn't he?" he said they both looked at Kelmar standing in the middle of the group wringing his hands nervously as he was surrounded by Ghost Slitherers and Dream Warriors who wanted to both thank him and congratulate him for his beautiful performance.

"He's not my dragon and its Draconis anyway, but yes he is rather good isn't he?" Analise said looking at the little red-scaled Draconis boy as he looked so utterly embarrassed under all the praise he was receiving from all the powerful warriors around him.

Ryan snorted a laugh before clicking his mandibles thoughtfully, "Seems to me he could do with rescuing from all the praise, now only if there was a strong ooman warrior princess around to save his cute tail eh?" Ryan said teasingly and now Analise snorted a laugh.

"Who are you calling a princess?" she snorted and Ryan grinned.

"Good to know you recognise yourself in this story," he said drawing his mandibles up into a bright smile and Analise snorted a laugh again.

"So who are you in this story than my Yautja fairy god matriarch?" she asked causing Ryan to roar with laughter and shake his head before giving her a sly and evil smile.

"Nope I'm the Yautja cupid a trait I inherited from my Patriarch," he said and before Analise could ask what the hell a Cupid was he spun her on the spot and shoved her in the back causing her to stumble.

Analise stumbled a few steps because of Ryan's mighty Yautja strength but before she could yell a protest she bumped into something soft and warm.

A pair of hands grabbed her and stopped her from falling and when she looked up she found herself looking into the kindest and prettiest eyes she had ever seen in her life, they were like looking at two golden galaxies filled with little golden stars all glittering at her before she could stop herself she said the first and only word that came into her mind, "Beautiful" she said softly.

Kelmar's scales seemed to go a deeper more vivid shade of red and he blinked rapidly, "I err Ummm t-thank you miss Analise, b-but you don't need to say something like that, I know it's not true, I-I'm just a boy so I can't be beautiful, only females are allowed to be beautiful" he said in such a timid voice, but it was his words, his words both melted and strained her heart at the same time.

How could anyone tell him such a vile and cruel thing? That he wasn't allowed to be beautiful, Analise suddenly felt her blood boiling with righteous rage, this boy was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and he was going to bloody well know it.

Analise's eyes began to glow as he powers bled through her control barrier and into her conscious mind, instantly like someone hand blown a silent whistle her tiger pack appeared around them, Kelmar looked around nervously, he was obviously frightened, "M-Miss Analise?' he asked nervously.

"It's alright beautiful one, you don't need to be frightened or afraid, I would never ever hurt you and I will never let anyone else hurt you either, I want to show you something, here watch this," she said softly and as she spoke she reached out with her hands to her sides and slowly began to spin like she was dancing.

As she did the grass began to grow at her feet and every step she took left a perfect lush green footprint, as she waves her hands it looked like she was weaving something with invisible strands, only the stands didn't stay invisible for long, it was like she was pulling little golden strands from Kelmar as he watched in utter rapt fascination, she wove them together and then lay them into the ground at his feet.

No sooner had the strands sunk int the ground than flowers began to sprout at his feet and Kelmar looked down at them in utter amazement, as he watched the flowers grew up to knee height and then bloomed into huge red and gold flowers and Analise leaned down and plucked one before handing it to him as he stood there in utter awe staring at the pretty flower he was holding in disbelief.

"This is a flower never before seen here or anywhere else, a flower born of combining the power of nature with the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, a little scaly angel who fell into my life and brightened it up instantly by just being so kind and gentle, I'm going to call it, Pulchra Draco, or in English Beautiful Dragon after the beautiful male is was born from, they will grow forever in this garden of peace and tranquillity, they will be tended and protected by the Tamers, just like this beautiful little dragon will be tended and protected by this Tamer," Analise said taking Kelmar's pretty face in her hands and looking right into those gorgeous golden eyes.

"I-I-I don't know what to say Miss Analise no one has ever done anything like this for me before and no one has ever called me beautiful before, I-I-I was always taught that males were put on this world to please females and that's it....." he began as his emotions began to overwhelm him and tears formed in his eyes.

Analise instantly stepped forwards and wrapped him in a tight and warm hug, "Not in this place Kelmar, not in this place, in this place all are free, all are equal and that's what you are Kelmar, you are equal and you are free" she said and with an outpouring of emotion Kelmar gripped her and began to sob softly into her shoulder as she stroked the back of his scaly head.

"I-I-I'm sorry Miss Analise I don't mean to cry but your words are so beautiful to me" he sobbed softly.

"It's alright it's ok pretty one, let it out don't you be ashamed of this, ever," she said softly in his ear and he gripped her even tighter than before and buried his face in her shoulder letting her hold him tightly, she felt eyes on her and she looked up and noticed both Jack, Ryan, Liam and his entire pack all watching them and smiling brightly and knowingly at them, the tounges of Liam's Serpentinus girls were all flickering at them but they were smiling brightly and warmly.

In fact little Kelmar's emotional state seemed to affect them rather strongly because as one they wrapped Liam up and held him tightly between the four of them clinging to him as if to reassure him that they too would strive to protect him despite him not needing it, what with being one of the most powerful warriors in the known universe.

Analise let Kelmar cry himself out on her shoulder than when she felt he'd relaxed she lifted his pretty face and dried his eyes for him, "Come on let's get you something to eat and then I'll take you on a tour of your new home ok?" she said and he nodded silently.

Analise led the emotional Draconis down to the quarters of the Temple and led him into her quarters where she sat him down on her sofa, his leathery wings draped over the rear of it and his long tail tucked up beside him, Analise went to her kitchen and began preparing them both a simple meal of meat sandwiches, Liam had always been a far better cook than she had, in fact it had been a bit of a running joke among the Seekers that one day a Yautja girl was going to snap him up not because of how he looked or how he fought and hunted, but because of how he cooked.

She could handle simple stuff but anything complex was kinda beyond her, but now as she put some sweet relish onto the fresh deer meat from her and Sela eleth's latest hunt with a spoon, before laying the choice cut into the thick fresh bread she wished she'd taken the time to learn, it was always a good skill to have, she remembered Grand Matriarch Tik telling her once that the Grand Patriarch was a fantastic cook, that more than once she had gone to extra special lengths to find the most succulent game to bring back from her hunts just for her beloved one to cook it for her.

The quickest way to a Yautja girls heart was through her stomach and also to give her trophies hard-earned in a hunt, but she wasn't sure what the quickest way to a Draconis boy's heart was but as she glanced into the living room and she saw the little dragon-like boy sitting there nervously playing with his hands and his tail, she realized she was going to do everything in her power to find it, damn Ryan and the others had been bloody right, she had fallen for the pretty reptilian boy and she'd fallen hard.

She took the plates of sandwiches out to the living room and handed one to Kelmar who looked very happy and grateful, plus it was obvious that he wasn't used to a female making food for him at all, but he took it and from the very first bite it was obvious that he was a very happy Draconis boy indeed as his entire face lit up with joy and happiness.

"Good?" she asked hopefully and he nodded licking the relish from his soft-looking scaly lips.

"It's very tasty Miss Analise thank you," he said softly.

"Please Kelmar its just Analise to you ok? No need for any honorifics" she said softly and he nodded.

"Ok Mi-err Analise," he said softly and she laughed softly.

"First thing you need to realise about this place Kelmar is no one is any better than you are, not the Hunters, not the Saviors and not the Seekers, everyone in Clan Mason is ad important to the Clan as anyone else, its what makes us who we are, all are equal and all are important, its what makes Clan Mason so strong, because there is not a single member who will not stand for their brothers and sisters, we all stand together and we all protect one another, that unity makes us stronger than we ever could be alone," she said.

"I-I-I want to be strong, I want to be strong enough that I too could stand for those around me so that I could protect people, so I could protect you as you protected me," Kelmar said his voice fading to almost a whisper as he reached the end of his sentence and Analise's heart lurched in her chest, this beautiful Draconis boy wanted to be strong enough to protect her which was positively the sweetest thing she had ever heard.

"Do you want to learn how to be strong Kelmar?" she asked and he nodded.

"More than anything," he said and Analise smiled.

"Hurry up and finish your sandwich sweet boy, I know just the thing to help you make that happen," she said and Kelmar wolfed his sandwich down as she watched the lumps vanishing down his long slender throat.

After he was finished Analise took him by the hand and led him out of the Temple and into the city itself, it warmed her heart that so many people stopped to offer Kelmar such warm greetings as they passed by, it took him by surprise but it was obviously a welcome one, all of these complete strangers of different races going out of their way to welcome this lost little Draconis male and to make him feel welcome among friends here warmed her heart.

Finally, they reached their destination Kelmar looked up at the large building with a large shield on the front door in front of him, "What is this place?" he asked looking at the inscription on the shield written in all the languages spoken in Clan Mason, English, Yautja and Xeno, 'We are the Shields behind which innocence is Saved' it read.

"This is the home of the Saviors, they are a very special branch of Clan Mason, they are incredibly diverse and they do all sorts of things, if there is anyone who can not only find a place for you to be but also teach you how to be strong the way you need to be it's Sela eleth, she's the daughter of our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch Jack Mason and Tik eleth Mason, as well as the sister of Ryan Mason, she has a real talent for finding hidden talents that people didn't know they had and then putting them to use, to wear that Sheild upon your chest is a great honour in the Clan, just like wearing the Sword of the Hunters or the Owl's head of a Seeker, but it is not given it is earned," Analise said.

Kelmar looked at her curiously, "What's an owl?" he asked and she smiled and laughed softly pointing to the little owl with huge eyes on her collar.

"This is, according to our Grand Patriarch they are birds that symbolise wisdom on Earth which is the ancestral home of my species, humans didn't come from here and neither did the Yautja or the Xenos, but this place is our home and our paradise and there isn't a single person here who would not lay down their lives to defend it and what it represents," she said and Kelmar nodded eagerly understanding.

"That's what I want! I want that strength and I want to wear that Sheild on my chest with pride, so that when people look at me they won't see a lost little Draconis male that they have to protect, they will see a proud, strong male who they will know will also stand for them when they need it, I don't want to be afraid any more" he said with such fire in his voice that it stirred Analise's heart and she nodded.

"Good! Then let's go meet the Saviors shall we?" she said and he nodded eagerly as she turned and gripped the little shield-shaped door handle and pulled it guiding Kelmar in through the door and into the lobby beyond.

The lobby was decorated with art and statues all commissioned and made by the Clan's very own master artist h'chak, they depicted Saviours standing strong as a living Sheild against evil and protecting the innocent behind them, human, Yautja, Xeno as stood together as one.

As they approached the main desk the Xeno Sargent manning it stood to attention as soon as he spotted Analise approaching, "Seeker on deck!" his modulated voice rang out and a few Saviors working at desks behind him all jumped up and snapped to attention, rank was important to all the military arms of Clan Mason and as Dream Warriors, Seekers commanded respect wherever they went.

"At ease guys, I'm looking for your Matriach is she about?" Annalise asked.

"Yes Seeker Vermone, she's in the office on the top level, end of the hall, and the last door on the left take those stairs there," the Xeno Sargent said pointing.

"Thanks, come on Kelmar," Analise said and the young Draconis male fell in step with her as they headed for the stairs which led them to the top level of the building, everyone they passed on the way saluted her and Kelmar looked fascinated by this.

"Do you outrank everyone here?" he asked and Analise smiled at him softly.

"In a way, a fully trained Seeker is greatly valued by the Clan because not only because of what we can add to the military but what we can do for the Clan as a whole, for example, a single Tamer deployed to a place of either drought or famine could cure it, a single Soul Knight can cure grief of loss by bringing peace to tortured and lost souls by guiding them to where they are meant to be, but also comfort bereaved families by allowing them to say their final goodbyes to their beloved ones, but we earn our rank same as anyone, Seeker training is far from easy it tests you to the very point of breaking, then once you hit that point it moulds you into a stronger, harder, better person, someone ready to fight and if need be die not just for the Clan but for all innocents everywhere, you get to see the universe in an entirely new way" she explained and Kelmar looked amazed but very happy with this.

"I will be honoured to salute you, but it is a right I must first earn and I've never been so determined to do something in my life, I want to earn my place in this paradise you brought me to and if Sela eleth gives me the chance I will do it!" he said with such passion in his bright voice that it almost brought tears to Analise's eyes.

"Well I'm going to make sure you get the chance pretty one," she said before her mind quite realized just what she was saying and her cheeks flushed as she realized what words had just left her lips.

Kelmar's head snapped to her and his beautiful golden eyes widened, "Y-Y-You think I'm pretty?" he asked in surprise and Analise's heart stuttered but she had been taught since she was a little girl that you had to face matters of the heart head-on, this Clan was built on the beauty and power of love no matter its shape or form, it was embraced and nurtured so it could bestow its power upon those lucky enough to receive it.

'You didn't shy from it, you fight for it, you hunt it, you capture it and you relish it, it is your greatest treasure and your brightest trophy' had been the words of Mrs V'Ten the Yautja teacher who had taught her in school, she had a human husband and made no bones about the fact that he was her greatest trophy and treasure and whenever he came to collect her at the school gates after she was finished with work she made no attempt to hide her displays of love for her man from anyone, in fact, she'd carried him home in a bridal carry more than once.

Even now as she thought about it it made Analise smile but now she was smiling because this young Draconis boy just looks so shocked and vulnerable before her by her words and she would own them, "Yes of course I do Kelmar, I've already told you you are very beautiful and I meant it, you are very very pretty, your beautiful ruby red scales, your bright liquid gold eyes, that slender neck, that handsome face, those pretty horns, those exquisite wings, that long luscious tail, you are a very very handsome and pretty man Kelmar and don't ever let anyone tell you differently and if they dare to, they'll answer to me for their lies" she said proudly.

Kelmar looked like he was about to cry and she reached up and cupped his handsome face in her hands and to her dismay, he flinched, still evident was the fear he felt at being touched, so ingrained into him was the fact that being touched by a woman meant pain or humiliation of some kind and it brought fury to her heart, she was determined to make sure this beautiful innocent male would never suffer at anyone's hands ever again, she had sworn an oath before Paya and she was going to bloody well keep it.

She leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on each of his horns and she felt him shiver each time her lips made contact with them, "You'll be fine Kelmar I promise, I will always protect you, I swear it to you" she said softly stroking the side of his face and utterly relishing the smoothness of his scales.

"Thank you Analise, thank you so so much, I promise I will make something of myself," he said and she smiled cupping his handsome face and before she even knew what she was doing she kissed him full on the lips and the feeling of his soft scaly lips against her flesh covered ones made her melt inside, all those jokes that all her comrades had made in the Seekers, they had all seen it and they'd been right, she'd fallen head over feet for this little red scaly angel the moment she'd seen him and having just shared her very first kiss with him, she knew where her heart lay, in scaly hands.

Kelmar looked so stunned and surprised but not unhappy, Analise decided to press her advantage, she stroked the side of his pretty scaly face, "Come on let's get you into a uniform that you can look even more handsome in shall we?" Analise said and Kelmar's smile was so shy but so bright that it warmed her heart, she turned and knocked the heavy wooden door that had Sela eleth's name on it and from beyond it, she heard her voice.

"Come in!" Sela eleth called and Analise opened the door and ushered Kelmar inside the big beautifully decorated office, the walls were decorated with polished and decorated trophies from her hunts with both her Matriarch and her Patriarch as well as her brother, one of the things most prevalent and given pride of place was an AS50J and Analise recognized it as the first rifle given to her by her Patriarch.

Sela was sat at a large beautifully polished wooden desk that Analise recognized as Millar's handiwork, "Ahh Seeker Vermone good to see you, what can I do for you today?" Sela eleth asked standing up from her desk to shake her hand warmly.

No matter how many times she saw her Analise couldn't help but find the hybrid female impressive, "Well not so much me more my pretty friend Kelmar here" Analise aid gesturing to the shy Draconis stood at her side and Sela eleth turned her bright eyes to him and she smiled warmly.

"Ahh yes, the Draconis boy that my Patriarch and yourself saved from that freighter where we found Celia, yes I've been meaning to come and introduce myself and I must say I never imagined I'd be looking at a walking talking Dragon from my Patriach's bedtime stories," Sela said smiling at Kelmar.

"Matriarch?" Analise asked curiously and slightly confused and turned to face her.

"Oh please Analise I've known you since you were crawling, you can call me Sela eleth, but yeah I was just referring to the bed time stories my Patriach and Matriach used to tell me and my brother when we were cubs, though now I think about it I can't help but smile at the differences, in my Matriach's stories the huntress would hunt the Dragon and in my Patriach's the mighty huntress would fall in love with the Dragon and he'd sweep the mighty huntress off her feet and carry her off to his cave to make her happy for the rest of her life, though when my Matriach used to catch him telling these stories she would inevitably sweep him off his feet and carry him off to her 'cave'" she clarified with a laugh that Analise shared.

"Well young Kelmar Littlewing here wants to give back to the Clan, he wants to become a Savior so he too can be strong and protect people, he wants to protect his Clan as we protect him and he wants to wear the Sheild of a Savior proudly on his chest" Analise said sounding every bit as proud as she felt at his decision and a pride that echoed itself in Sela eleth face as she looked at Kelmar Littlewing.

"Well Kelmar Littlewing I must say that makes me very happy indeed, the Saviors always need good people to serve and protect Clan Mason, we are the backbone of keeping the Clan operating, where the Hunters are a broadsword, the Seekers are a scalpel and we Saviors, we are a Sheild behind which all are protected, we are all things to all people, combat engineers, space craft crews, police and peace keepers, logistics teams that carry what ever is needed where it needs to go, whether it be weapons of war to soldiers or food and relief to innocent civilians we will get it there, we are snipers and the invisible fear that strike fear into the hearts of the enemies of the Clan, we are the back bone that keeps the Clan up right and stood tall and proud, so do you think you have what it takes to wear this Sheild upon your chest young Kelmar Littlewing? Be sure now because this shield, this shield is a symbol of pride and honor, it says I am willing to defend Clan Mason with my very life and I will give my all to the Clan" Sela eleth said walking around to tower over the young Draconis male.

Kelmar look frightened and unsure of himself but as he glanced at Analise for support her smile at him had the desired effect and he drew himself up and puffed out his slender chest and ruffled his wings, "I can and I will Matriach, this Clan and its people have saved me and showed me what true freedom is and I will fight to defend it, i want to stand tall and proud and I want to say this is what a male can do, i am not weak, I am not scared and I will stand for those that stood for me and believed in me" he said with that wonderful passion in his voice again and Sela eleth's face lit up with a bright smile.

"Now that is what I like to hear young Draconis and this I swear to you, we will take you and make you proud of yourself as your Clan will be of you, we will turn you into the man you deserve to be and if your kinswomen ever see you again they will look upon you and hang their heads in shame, for stood before them will not be a cowering, weak and submissive male who they can do with what they want, but a strong and tall proud male who will have the entire strength of Clan Mason at his back, a male who will say touch me if you dare and if I do not break your unwelcome hands off and beat you with them, my brothers and sisters will for I stand for them and they for me and you will wear your Savior Sheild with pride" Sela said with such pride and passion in her voice that it lit up Kelmar's face with such joy.

"Yes! This is what I want! Please Matriach Sela eleth! Make me into a proud Savior!" Kelmar exclaimed excitedly as Sela drew her mandibles up into a proud and happy smile and nodded.

"Very well young one, lets get you signed up and find out what skills you have that we can use" Sela said and she placed her large hand on the young Draconis's shoulder and guiding him out her office and back down to the lobby where all the Saviors gathered salute their Matriach.  
"At ease Saviors, this here is Kelmar Littlewing, he is the first of his kind that we have met and from what our Grand Patriach has told me this poor male has suffered greatly at the hands of the very people who were supposed to love and care for him, the sisters of his race treated him with such vile distain and abuse that it makes my very blood boil with rage, but here among us he is free and he is protected and he has made the supremely brave and wise choice to join us, he wants to be a Saviors like us, he wants to wear the Sheild of the Savior upon his chest with pride and thats exactly what he's going to do, we are going to find out exactly he can do and we are going to make him great at it, then once he is trained as as good as he can be we are going to pin that Sheild upon his chest and watch him wear it with pride as we all do!" Sela said loudly and at her words every Savior cheered and came forwards to clap Kelmar on the shoulder and shake his hands.

Analise turned to Sela eleth, "Mind if I stick around to see him sit the tests?" she asked and Sela eleth's mandibles drew up into a knowing smile.

"You like him don't you?" she said softly so that the young Draconis boy who was still being warmly welcomed by his soon to be fellow Saviors didn't overhear.

Analise flushed feeling the heat prickling her face, "Goddess above, is it that obvious?" she said and Sela laughed softly and nodded.

"I'm afraid so, you don't need to be a Seeker with your skills to see the way you keep looking at him" Sela eleth said and Analise cocked her head to one side curiously doing a rather good impression of a curious Xeno.

"Looking at him how exactly?" she asked.

"Like a starving woman who's just found herself in possession of the most succulent juicy steak ever seen and she can't wait to get it home and to tear into it and devour every succulent piece" Sela said with a sly smile that grew bigger as Analise's flush grew deeper.

"I-I-It's not like that" Analise said softly as she snuck a glance at Kelmar who was talking with the Saviours who were interested in him, Sela eleth cocked her head curiously.

"Oh? So how is it then?" she asked curiously.

Analise took a deep breath as she prepared to say the words out lod for the first time, "Yeah ok I like him, aww fuck it I'm gonna say it, yeah I've fallen head over heels for him I mean look at him, he's a scaly angel, he's beautiful, but he's a tortured angel, all that poor boy has ever known is pain, fear, humiliation and abuse, he's spent most of his life being forced to service any female that took a liking to him and I'm going to prove to him that I am not like that, I will prove to him that he is not an object, that he is loved and he is cherished, I swore an oath before Paya that I would guard him for the rest of his life and I would never break an oath to any living person let alone the Goddess herself, I want nothing more than to make that poor boy's life as joyous and happy as I can make it" Analise said looking at him.

Sela eleth placed a large hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it, "Don't do yourself down Analise, that boy deserves someone like you by the sound of things, if all he has know his entire life is pain and misery then teach him about happiness, joy and love, look at him Analise, look at the way he looks to you for support and in a way approval, give him the strength he needs, guide him gently and don't be afraid to make him yours, there should be no shame in loving someone Analise so don't you dare feel a single second's shame for falling in love with him" Sela said with such passion and pride in her voice that Analise couldn't help but see her parents in her, the power and passion of her Matriach and the sheer indomitable will and pure spirit of her Patriach.

"You're right, you're absoultly right Sela eleth, I will offer that boy my heart and let him decide if he wants it or not, if he does I will teach him all about the sweetness and beauty of love and I will not fear it or be shamed by it for a single second" Analise said and Sela eleth clapped her shoulder and nodded.

"Good I'm glad to hear it, stand tall and proud and you show him your pride in him as he's already showing his in you, every heterosexual male needs a strong female to prop him up and keep him on the right track and to save him when he stumbles as well as to pick him up when he falls, just as every heterosexual female needs the same, we look to our boys for their strength and their love to support us and reassure us and they are no different" Sela said once again showing the reason why she was the Matriach of the Saviours, she was wise beyond her years and was every bit as inspiring as her Matriach.

Sela broke up the little greeting display and steered Kelmar into a side room with a computer and a VR set up developed in conjunction with Yoshi and Citrus hive, it was very clever tech that allowed the Saviors to train and test its members to weed out each members special skills by subjecting them to a series of scenarios designed to offer them different methods of how to handle a set of problems and to see what they would do in order to solve them, this would tell the examiner exactly what devision that the candidate would be best suited to.

"Ok Kelmar we're going to strap you into this here and we're going to begin the testing ok?" Sela eleth said gesturing to the VR rig which was made up of a circular omni-directional treadmill that had a waist high support rig that had a harness on it that the person would be strapped into so they didn't fall out.

Kelmar looked to Analise for support and she smiled at him, "It's alright sweetheart I'll be right here, come on lets get you strapped in and then we can find out what type of Savior you can be shall we?" she said softly and this lit up a bright smile on the pretty Draconis's face and he nodded eagerly.

Analise helped him up into the rig and strapped him in making sure she was careful and gentle as she put the harnesses on him as well as the gloves and the head rig which acted as a visor and speaker set totally immersing the person in the simulation.

"Ok Kelmar here we go, now remember there is no wrong answers here, just react to the problems posed to you simulations in the most natural feeling way" Sela said as she sat down at the control computer and began the simulations and Analise sat there and watched Kelmar begin to solve the problems posed at him.

It took only one hour for Sela eleth to figure out Kelmar's strengths and weaknesses, as it turned out that Kelmar despite being illiterate up untill he was given their languages by Jack Mason he was incredibly intelligent and had a real knack for problem solving and he showed real promise in two areas, sniping and engineering.

"Ok Kelmar you did really really well, looking at these results I believe you would do best in our combat engineers devision as a sapper, you have a very logical and analytical mind, so if you want it I'd like to offer you the chance to join our combat engineer devision, all you have to do now is sign on the dotted line and we will make preparations for you to go for Hunter training" Sela eleth said smiling at the surprised but very happy looking Draconis male.

"Yes! Yes please I want this!" he exclaimed happily looking between them and Analise couldn't help but hug him tightly as she helped him down and to her utter delight he returned it happily, pressing himself tightly against her as he clung to her in his happiness and out of the corner of her eye she could see Sela eleth smiling at them both brightly.

"Come on Kelmar lets get you signed up then while Matriach Sela eleth does the paper work I'll take you back to the Temple and get you set up with some quarters, since you are under my guardianship its only right that we keep you there" she said softly.

"Does that mean I get to live with you Analise?" he asked so innocently and sweetly that it plucked her heartstrings but before she could answer him Sela eleth spoke up.

"Of course it does young one, Analise is a Seeker of Truth and their two biggest responsibilities is to the Clan and to our Goddess Paya and she made an oath to Paya an oath that can never be broken, that was to protect you and love you for the rest of your life, so don't you worry young one she'll take you into her home and there you will be safe and loved, then I can turn you into a Savior and one day soon we can pin that Sheild of the Saviors onto that scaly chest of yours and you can make Analise proud of you" she said making Analise's mouth drop open in shock, she'd been ambushed and now the brightly smiling and happy Draconis male beaming at her with such a beautiful smile that hear heart melted into a puddle in her chest, he just looked so sweet and so innocently happy at these words.

"I want that more than anything, Analise has been so kind and wonderful to me, she's shown me such wonderful and beautiful things, I want to make her proud of me, to show her that I am using the gift she gave me to give back to the wonderful people that have taken me in and protected me" he said happily.

Sela eleth clapped him on the shoulder and smiled brightly, "That is a fine attitude to have, but as strong as she is Analise still needs care and love, do you think you can do that for her?" Sela eleth asked and Kelmar nodded eagerly and proudly.

"I will I swear it" he said and Analise's heart was jumping about in her chest and Sela eleth smile brightly and nodded approvingly.

"Good, alright you two run along now, I'll get the paperwork done and let my Matriach know that I'm going to send you to her for training, we'll make a fine Saviour of you just you wait and see" she said.

With that after Kelmar signed on the dotted line of the application form using his newly found English skills and with that donne they left the place of the Saviors and headed back up to the Seeker Temple, as they walk in the Ghost Slitherers were busily exploring everything, it made both Kelmar and Analise smile as they watched them exploring their new found freedom.

Analise took Kelmar through the Temple and down to her quarters and as soon as they entered she could see how happy he was, "Is this where I will live now?" he asked so sweetly it made her heart jump in her chest and she nodded.

"If you want to, this is where I live and if you ike you can live with me, or if you like we can get you a room of your very own so you can have your very own freedom, its utterly up to you Kelmar, you deserve to make this choice for yourself" she said and he looked utterly shocked by this.

"I-I-I can choose?" he exclaimed and she nodded.

"I want to stay here with you if thats alright" he said making her smile brightly.

"Of course it is sweetheart" she said and Kelmar started looking around at the floor making her cock an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"I'm just wondering where it is I will sleep, so I'm looking for a nice spot on the floor that looks comfortable" he said looking up at her with such a sweet innocent smile making her heart clench in her chest and tears threaten to break free from her eyes.

"Oh sweetheart you won't be sleeping on no more floors, you will sleep here in the bed, with me" she said before realizing the actual weight of her words as they were leaving her lips and the look of utter surprise and joy on his face broke her heart.

"A-A-A bed? For me? With you?" he exclaimed and she nodded.

Before she could say another word he rushed up and hugged her tightly and she wrapped him in her arms and held him tight against her, when he lifted his head form her shoulder the sight of his handsome face so close to hers over rode her doubts and she couldn't help herself, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, to her delight he didn't pull away he even seemed to push back a little hesitantly at first but stronger soon enough.

His lips were so wonderfully soft and warm, unlike the Serpentinus Draconis were not cold blooded, so his mouth was exquisitely warm and when his lips parted and her tounge slipped between them she found a silky soft and deliciously sweet mouth awaiting her curious tounge as it slipped in and began to explore.

Kelmar made the most delightful soft whimpering noise as she gently lured his long and much thinner tounge out of his mouth and into hers, she cupped his face in her hands and the beautiful and supremely gentle mal just seemed to melt in her hands, his saliva sweet like the tastiest berries.

When they finally parted and gulped down deep breathes they looked at one another Analise saw the most wondrous and beautiful thing she had ever seen in those beautiful golden orbs he called eyes, hope and love.

It also steeled her heart and fanned the flames of the fire burning there, she knew she had to say the words to him, she had to tell him how she felt and she had to make her feeling for him plain and simple and understood, "Kelmar I have something to tell you but I want you to understand something very important, what I offer is a choice not an obligation, you can choose to accept or reject what I offer and I will think no less of you either way, do you understand?" she asked and he nodded gently.

"I understand" he said softly in a breathless voice.

"Good because Kelmar Littlewing i have fallen utterly and completely in love with you, you are the most beautiful male I have ever laid eyes upon, just looking at you makes my heart race and my mouth smile, you are exquisite Kelmar but I know how badly you have been treated by the females of your kind and i swear to you that I will never ever treat you in such a way, here with me you are free to make your own choices, to be your own person, so want you to know this, if accept my offer of love I will care for you and love you for the rest of my life, I will show you joys and happiness that you never dared to dream possible, but even if you don't I will think no less of you, this is a choice for you and you alone" she said softly.

Kelmar looked at her and his bright golden eyes began to brim with tears than began to pour down his cheeks and his beautiful snout, "Oh sweetheart don't cry, i didn't mean to make you sad" Analise said quickly trying to dry his eyes.

"I'm not sad, not at all, I was frightened because I feel the exact same way as you do, but I was scared that if I revealed my secret hidden feelings that you would hate me, that you would chase me away and I'd be on my own again" he sobbed and Analises's heart utterly exploded in her chest with both a mixture of joy and of anguish.

She threw her arms back around Kelmar and hugged him so tightly, "Oh my sweetest of all hearts i would never ever send you away, I have spent only the smallest of times with you but it is more than long enough to know that I want to spend the rest of my life at your side, there is so much joy and beauty that I want to show you and share with you, Kelmar Littlewing I love you with my entire heart and I say these words to you with my head held high and my heart filled with pride, with me you are safe, with me you are cared for, with me you are loved" she said

Kelmar broke down and he wept tears of pure joy, he wrapped his arms and even his tail and wings around Analise and he held on as if she was a dream that would turn into smoke and vanish before him if he didn't hold on as tightly as he could, Analise simply wrapped her arms around the emotional Draconis and held him tightly, pouring all of her love into the simplest of motions, she wrapped his shaking body in her arms and held him tightly.

After he had calmed down Analise gently guided him towards the bed and sat him down, "Its alright sweet boy here let me hold you" she said softly placing his horned head on her shoulder and very gently stroking him, she noticed that he gently shivered every time her fingers lightly traced his horns, "Are these sensitive sweet one? Am I hurting you?" she asked softy.

"Yes they're sesnitve but it doesn't hurt, it feels......nice" Kelmar said softly sounding almost embaressed by the pleasure he was experiencing and again a flash of anger hit Analise, it was obvious to her that this poor male had been taught from birth not to take pleasure for himself, to believe that he was not worthy of it, so she leaned down and very gently began to kiss all along his sensitive horns gently flicking her tounge over them and making him quiver in her grip, Analise had absoultly no idea how to please or pleasure a Draconis boy but she was going to her absolute damnedest to make this wonderful, gentle male feel like he was drowning in the sweetest feeling and sensations his beautiful body could produce.

She very slowly and gently guided him up onto the bed fully with only his feet dangling over the side, she knelt down at his side and smiled down at the obviously nervous Draconis, "I don't have the words to tell you how strongly I feel about you Kelmar or how you make me feel, so instead I'm going to show you the way I as a Dream Warrior know how, generally the Soul Knights are better at this than us Tamers, but I will do my very best for you" she said and with that said she reached up and cupped his face in her hands again.

With a tremendous push she made the connection with him, their feelings wound together and mixed, she felt his apprehension that he would disappoint her, that she would find him lacking and unable to please her, but she also felt his tremendous love for her, the way that her smile lit up his heart like fireworks, she also realized that he was feeling her feeling about him, her determination to make him happy and to protect him and she felt a tremendous wash of purest joy and happiness flooding through him, "Thats it my beautiful one, feel me as I feel you, this is me raw and pure, do not fear me my beautiful one, I am all for you, every bit of me shall be yours and only yours and I will take every bit of you and love you the way you deserve to be loved" she said softly.

"Y-Y-You want me, t-t-to make love to me, don't you?" he stammered gently as he felt her desire burning in her heart and loins and she nodded.

"Yes I do, I ache and I yearn for you and your most beautiful touch my sweet scaly angel, but I will not act untill you are absoultly ready for it, I will prove to you that I am nothing like those vile creature that call themselves women from your world, what we will do will be an act of purest love my little scaly angel, so it will happen only you are ready and not a second before, i do not want you to worry about my desire, it is for you and it will be sated when the time is right and you are ready for it" she said softly.

Suddenly she felt a wash of determination and love run through him like hot water, he lifted his head and his bright golden eyes met hers and she saw it, his love, his determination and his joy all mixed together with his desire for her, for the first time in his life his desire was his own and it was not a bad thing, not something to be scared of or vilified for, it was his and it was a good thing, a pure thing, a wonderful thing.

"I am ready now Analise, because you are not of my world, I know it and I feel it, you love me and I love you, I trust you with my life and myself, so if you want me, then take me, I am yours and no others" he said with such fire in his voice that her heart jumped for joy in her chest, tonight she would prove to him what love was and that it was real and that he could have it freely and without shame.

She gently stroked the glass smooth and soft scales of his face before leaning in to kiss him again, but this kiss was free of hesitation, she was going to show this beautiful little dragon how truely beautiful he was and how deeply she loved him, instead of words she would let the proof of the pudding be in the tasting and in her actions.

She slowly moved herself off the bed and knelt down by the side of it looked at her curiously as she lifted his feet and one at a time removed his shoes, slowly taking them off his feet, he had three large toes rather than her five, each of which had a blunt talon on the end of each one, they looked like they'd been filed to blunt the point, she got the feeling this was something the females of his world would do to remove any potential weapon a male would have against them and given how big those two inch talons were a kick from him could do some serious damage.

But to her it was just another cruelty designed to emasculate him and take from him his birth right in muting his natural strength, it was obviously something of a shame for him bt the look in his eyes, so slowly she leaned down and planted a kiss of each one of his toes to prove to him that to her it didn't matter if he was clawless he was still beautiful and every bit the male she needed and craved.

He gasped softly obviously not expecting her to do that, it was obvious that her removing his shoes was not something he'd been expecting either, something told her that it was not something that a female Draconis would do for a male, which made her happy because it was a step closer to proving to him that she was nothing like them, she ran her hands slowly and sensually up those beautiful slender but solid legs of his feeling the firmness of the solid muscles through the fabric of his trousers and her body burned to feel the smoothness and warmth of his scales.

Slowly she moved up to meet him and with a gentle move she placed her hands on his waist and began to lift his shirt up pausing only to unclip the popper buttons at the tops of his shoulders so he could slide his pretty pretty wings out, she tossed his shirt to one side and let her eyes roam over his surprisingly broad chest, he might be slender but his muscles were very well developed.

Every fibre of her being screamed at her to begin exploring every inch of exposed scale, especially the peach colored scales that adorned his belly, but she excersied patience as much as her soul could muster, she wanted him utterly naked, to see the truest beauty she had ever seen in all his splendor and glory, so she would wait to revel in all the beauty that sat nervously on the bed before her.

Slowly she placed her hands on her smooth scaled shoulders and she pushed very very gently to guide him to lay down on the bed, she spread his wings out to either side of him making him look even more like a beautiful angel not to mention making her heart race in her chest, once he was laid down she reached down and slowly unbelted his trousers and pulled them slowly down his masculine and very well developed legs.

His thighs looked like they could crack gumba nuts between them as she puled down his trousers and underwear till it was off him and she could throw his clothes into a plie next to her bed and slowly she looked up and let her eyes drink in the breath taking sight that lay before her naked and vulnerable.

Kelmar was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, "By the goddess you are exquisite, Paya sent me a real live angel to love and i swear I'm going to do her proud" she breathed as her eyes roamed over every inch of him, from his pretty face, to his long slender neck, to his slender but chiseled torso, to his long luscious legs, then there nestled between them hidden in a sheathe of protective scaled flesh was his manhood.

"Y-Y-You really think I'm beautiful?" Kelmar asked and Analise smiled, this poor creature had been stained with such insecurity thanks to what had been done to him than even though he'd felt her feeling raw and unfiltered he was still unable to accept that he could be beautiful in another's eyes.

"Oh my sweet one you are perfect, utterly perfect" she said placing her hands on each of his pectoral muscles, she could feel his heart hammering in his chest making it pulse like a drum under her fingers, she very gently ran them upwards over his slender throat untill she cupped his pretty face in her hands again, she leaned down and kissed him right on the lips as he leaned his head up to meet her, "Don't be frightened my beautiful one, I will never ever hurt you and we only go as far as you are comfortable ok? If at any time you feel like its becoming too much for you just say so and we'll stop, I won't be disappointed with you, I want you comfortable and happy, understand?" she said and he nodded.

"Now let me show you something that no-one has ever seen, something that is for those beautiful eyes of yours only, something that belongs only to you" she said playfully and sensually, slowly she moved away from him and climbed off the bed, she kicked off her shoes, then she turned around and slowly began to sway to the beat of silent music playing in her head.

It was something that Tik eleth had told her once shortly after she'd become second in command of the Tamers, they'd been sharing a drink of the Yautja spice vodka that she'd been brewing, it was pretty potent stuff and was brewed from the peel of the potatoes that came from Aine and Murphy's farm, it tasted good but it punched as hard as Tik eleth herself.

They'd been talking about males and Tik had been telling her that her proudest moment had been claiming Jack for her own, she'd asked Analise if she was a human huntress of if she liked Xeno's or Yautja, Analise had said she didn't know, sure she'd seen plenty of boys of all the races that were very pretty but none of them had really called to her in they way she thought they should, Tik had looked at her knowingly and nodded," When you find the right one you will know and it will not matter a single pauk who or what he it to you then, all that will matter is that he is and that's it, here's a ti for you, if you want your chosen male to lose himself in you dance for him" she has said and Analise had looked at her in utter surprise.

Somehow she'd just never imagined her Grand Matriach dancing and the surprise had obviously shown on her face because Tik had given her a knowing smile, "My Ack is the only one who ever gets to see me dance and he's the only one who ever will get to see it, it is for his eyes only but when I do dance his eyes never leave me for a single second, if you want your male to know what he means to you show him a side of you that no-one else will ever see, something just for him and no-one else, make it sensual, make it sexy, you make feel like a pauking fool at the time but when you see the look in his eyes when you shed your clothing during your dance you will know what I am saying to you young one" Tik had said and as always she was right, Tik might be as blunt as a brick to the face but she was wise and it showed.

Now as Analise gyrated her hips to the silent music, swaying and twisting and bending as she pulled item after item from her body to add to the pile on the floor Kelmar's eyes said it all, he was utterly enraptured, it was like he'd forgotten how to blink, well either that or he just didn't want to in-case he missed something.

Finally with a last slow sensual bend at the waist showing off her toned rear end for him she wiggled her way out of her panties and kicked them into the pile, that was it she was as naked as the day she was born and the Xeno nurse had held her for the first time, thats when an odd thought hit her, she was going to have introduce Kelmar to her parents now and she was actually looking forwards to that.

Slowly she turned around to look at Kelmar and the look i those golden eyes of his told her everything she needed to know, Tik eleth had as always been right on the money, he looked both mesmeraised and a starving man staring at a juicy steak, infact he even licked his lips with that long narrow tounge of his making her smile, slowly and sensually she walked towards him rolling her human hips as she did till she reached the end of the bed, from there she lowered herself to her hands and knees and slowly crawled up and over him till she was face to face with him.

"So do you like what you see my scaly angel?" she whispered softly in his ear planting a trail of kisses leading up his neck and onto his horns, slowly and gently running both her lips and her tounge over the solid bone like substance that seemed to have bands of nerves running through them by how delightfully sensitive they were, every single kiss or lick sending explosive tingles down his spine making his tail flick and twitch.

"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen" he gasped softly and she smiled silently as she felt his hands come up and grip her hips, this was exactly what she was hoping would happen, she wanted him confident and stong, she wanted him to find his strength and to be the man he was supposed to be and she would be proudly at his side every step of the way.

"Thats it sweet scale, all for you, every little inch of me is all for you, just like every little sweet little scale of you is all for me, both of us each for the other and for no one else, for me my very own beautiful scaly little angel to have and to love with every fibre of my being and every string of my heart and for you your own Tamer ready to stand strong and proud in defence of her most beloved one, I love you Kelmar Littlewing and I always will" she said softly relishing the feel of those wonderful clawed hands of his sliding slowly up her body, sliding smoothly over her hot flesh.

She looked down into his beautiful eyes and lowered her head again just as his hands reached her breasts and hesitated, but the kiss she sealed him into gave him what he needed and his hands cupped both of her small breasts into them making her gasp into his mouth as a flurry of tingles exploded across her chest and into her stomach, he gently played with her nipples and to her surprise he seemed to know exactly what he was doing but then she remembered what the females of his race had down to him, used him like a living sex toy, this might be her first time but it most certainly wasn't his.

Thats when an idea struck her, given the selfish nature of Draconis females she figured that not one of them would have ever even thought to make him feel good, to give him pleasure, she remembered listening to one of the Yautja girls who had a human mate telling her friend one of the things that she liked to do for her male t drive him crazy and what he would do for her in return, it was like a light bulb going off in her head and a devilish smile crept onto her face.

"I want to do something for you" she whispered into his ear and he turned to look at her curiously.

"For me?" he asked like it was an alien concept and she smiled.

"You'll like it trust me" she said and he nodded his consent, she leaned in close and kissed him on the lips before gently turning his head and slowly trailing kisses down his long slender neck, relishing the feel of his blood pulsing under his scales and her lips, she moved down over his chest kissing as many scales as she could loving how utterly glass smooth they were under her lips.

She passed down his belly finding that the peach colored scales were even softer than his other ones, like they were made of flesh, smooth warm silky flesh, his soft gasps indicated that he liked it when she kissed him there so she made a point of planting a few extra kisses than was nessesery to complete her journey, but soon enough she had arrived at her destination and was greeted with what was for her the most beautiful of sights, Kelmar's most sacred treasure all tucked away in it's little protective sheathe, hiding from her, now all she had to do was coax it out into the daylight like a frightened animal learning to trust for the first time.

She lightly brushed her fingers over his sheathe and felt it twitch and he gasped, "Does that feel nice sweet scale?" she whispered and he licked his lips and nodded looking down his long body at her and she smiled, "Good" she whispered and to his utter surprise planted a kiss on his sheathe as she gripped it a little more firmly.

She could feel his manhood itself hidden inside those folds of soft flesh and she gently rubbed it between her finger and thumb, it responded almost instantly, she felt it begin to pulse and to grow, slowly, slowly slowly it began to peek through his sheathe, it was a bright red thing like his main scales, a deep blood red color and it was tapered down into a pointed tip, "There you are, come on, come to mama, she won't hurt you, she's going to make you feel sooooo good" Analise said playfully talking to Kelmar's manhood in a way that made him giggle.

But soon the giggle turned into a gasp and a strangled and surprised moan as Analise lowered her head and licked the tip slowly, he tasted surprisingly sweet almost like a slightly salty syrup, she swirled her tounge all over the tip finding that to her delight she liked the taste, the effect was profound, his manhood swelled rapidly and his sheathe retracted fully exposing his glistening manhood to the air.

"There you are my sweet treat, mmmm I'm going to make you feel so good, now lets find you a new place to hide shall we?" she whispered running her tounge all over the surprisingly long wide shaft, he was about seven inches long and much wider in the base than the tip, it was shaped kinda like a tounge, but to her and his obvious delight it fit rather nicely into her mouth as she let his tip and a decent section of his shaft slide past her lips.

Kelmars moan of pleasure was the sweetest sound her heart had ever heard, his hands came down and rested on her head his long fingers winding into her hair, just like his toes he only had three well two if you counted the thumb, but they felt wonderful raking those blunt claws over her scalp prickling her flesh.

Analise began to swirl her tounge over his flesh and she began to suck on it, to her pure delight Kelmar began to squirm and writhe underneath her attentions and she doubled her efforts, his eyes seemed to roll back into his head and he leaned back into the pillows and his wings flared a little, his toes were clawing at the air and Analise's heart was soaring, she was bobbing her head now, drawing in as much as she could and letting the tip tickle her throat before pulling back and holding that little tip between her lips.

She sped up and it was too much for him, "A-A-Analise I'm going to......ohhhhhhhh!!!" he began before his voice morphed into a long moan of purest pleasure and a flood of his seed fired out of his tip and hit the back of the throat triggering her swallow reflex and before she knew what she was doing she'd swallowed every little drop and licked his manhood clean.

She slowly and gently she kissed her way back up his body untill she was looking right into those bright golden orbs and they were fully dilated and unfocused as the pleasure had overwhelmed him, "It looks like my little dragon enjoyed that" she whispered kissing his snout before pressing her lips to his and drawing him into a deep and very meaningful kiss.

"I-I-I've never even imagined that anything could feel like that" he gasped and she nuzzled him gently planting kisses on his scales and stroking his horns with her finger tips.

"W-W-Will you wind my horns? Please?' he whispered softly, his voice sounded embaressed like he was asking her for something deviant, but the very fact that he'd felt brave enough to ask her for it spoke volumes to her, she didn't eactly know what winding his horns meant but if she could she'd do it for him.

"Of course I will but you'll have to show me how" she said softly and he smiled so brightly.

"Just wind my horns into your hair, to bind us together" he whispered and she smiled rather liking the sound of that, she lowered her head and using her hair she gently wound it round his horns pulling them together till they were locked face to face.

"Hows that feel?" she asked and he smiled.

"Perfect, for the first time in my life I want to do this, for the first time in my life I'm happy to do this because I'm with you, I belong to you now for life i will always belong to you" he said and she beamed a bright smile at him.

"And I to you my sweet horn, for life I belong to you" she said and he gave her the brightest and sweetest smile she had ever seen.

"Are you ready my beautiful one?" she whispered and he nodded.

Slowly she reached underneath herself and tickled his sensitive manhood which hadn't retreated into its sheathe, it was waggling and pulsing as her hand gripped it gently and guided it upwards till it kissed her lower lips and then suddenly a panicked look crossed his face and she froze solid seeing it, "I-I-I should pay you back for what you did for me! i didn't pay you back! i didn't pease you!" he exclaimed and Analise planted a kiss on the very tip of his snout.

"This night is about you my little sweet scale, don't you worry about that there will be plenty of time for you to taste me the way I tasted you, but I want and need you to know its not obligatory, I did wha i did for you because I want to please you, not because I expect to be repaid for it, i give my love to you for free, understand?" she said and his eyes locked on to hers and he calmed down.

"I love you Analise and untill I met you I didn't understand what that even meant, but now I do and I don't ever want it to go away" he said and that nearly brought tears to her eyes.

"I will never leave you sweet scale, Tamers like all Seekers love for life only, so with this movement and this moment, I promise myself to you and you alone, for life" she said and with that she sank her weight down and just like that her purity was gone and she felt something she had never felt in her life, she felt complete.

There was no pain from her hymen tearing because it had gone years ago during her Seeker training, but her flesh had never stretched like this and for a moment it flashed with white hot pain, but she endured it for the man she loved, she didn't let a single second of it bleed through into her eyes because she wanted them filled with nothing but the purest love that she felt for this beautiful male, his pupils went from slits to black moons as the purest pleasure he had ever felt hit him, unlike a female of his race she was not rough or greedy or selfish, she was gentle and kind and this was something that was being shared not taken, it was given, freely, by both of them each to the other.

"I'm going to start moving now ok?" she said and he nodded so slowly she retracted her hips untill only his little tip remained inside her then slowly she pushed back down taking each and every inch of him feeling that tip kiss her womb and she cried out in purest pleasure, this was it, this was the purest of loves, he for her and her for him, no one else just the pair of them.

Each and every stroke drove ecstasy into her core as his manhood squirmed and pulsed inside her twisting and writhing around like it was determined to caress every single millimetre of her sensitive insides, but her body was doing the same to him, it was like her insides had a mind of their own and were trying to caress every single part of him, she locked him in the deepest and most powerful kiss of her life feeling his tounge squirming like his manhood.

It was too much for either of them, it was like a bomb going of between them, starting with her and hitting him and then bouncing back into her again, as her climax began she squeezed him so incredibly tightly that it triggered his orgasm too, as an explosion of molten hot seed hit her womb and began to fill it it sent shockwaves of pleasure through her and she began to squeeze him and milk him which sent even more pleasure through her and also him, untill like somebody pulled the plug on them they collapsed together in a sweaty heap.

"T-T-That was the most beautiful experience of my life and it was both my honor and my greatest joy that I got to share it with you Kelmar" Analise said softly panting as she spoke, thats when Kelmar did something even more beautiful, while they were still locked together he flared his wings and wrapped them both in the leathery warm flesh, cocooning them both in his love.

"You are my joy, my happiness and my love, there is not a thing I will not do to protect you and to keep you happy Analise" Kelmar said in the softest sweetest voice, unwinding her hair from his horns Kelmar guided her head down onto his shoulder.

"I love you too Kelmar, with all of my heart and soul" she said and just like that sleep claimed them both into its warm loving embrace, just like the embrace that Kelmar now held her in, this was how she wanted to fall asleep every night for the rest of her life, in the arms and wings of the man she loved.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: If Your Girl Loves to Hunt.

Tik eleth raised her arms above her head and she felt her muscles go taught as iron bands, she flared her mandibles as the sensations hit her and the yawn broke free of her, as she let them fold back in she purred to herself and turned over to tightly embrace her beautiful ooman still sleeping next to her.

Only he wasn't still sleeping next to her and she found out that the wonderful torso she'd been hugging tightly for hours was in fact a damn pillow, that damn beautiful ooman of hers had done it to her again.

As tempted to throw the pillow across the room in a fit of temper at being fooled again as she was, she instead fluffed it and placed it back at the head of the bed where the shape of her beautiful ooman was still present meaning that he hadn't been gone all that long, she lifted her large head from her pillow her dreadlocks falling into place against her broad back and that's when she noticed something on her bedside table and she couldn't help but smile.

On her bedside table was a little silver tray and Tik couldn't help but laugh to herself, this ooman tradition of theirs was an oddly charming thing and it almost made up for the waking up to the pillow again, though she supposed it was for the best, if she had woken up to him she doubted she'd have been able to keep her hands off him and then she'd be late for work, so maybe a blessing in disguise, sure didn't feel like one though.

Tik leaned over to the tray and lifted the little hand made silver domed lid up that her beloved Ack had made for her specifically so he could serve her breakfast in bed, which he had done every morning that he hadn't been able to join her, it was a distinctly ooman thing to do but she couldn't help love him all the more for it, her beautiful male loved her so completely and utterly that no matter how many years had passed he would always do little things like this to show her exactly how much he loved her and honoured her.

The dome was decorated with a very elaborate hunting scene that had been painstakingly and lovingly engraved into it, it depicted her and Ack's very first hunt and victory together, the handle that stood atop the dome was a little Yautja and an ooman shaking hands that acted as a finger loop to lift it, Tik would have preferred if they were doing a lot more than just shaking hands but her Ack had just laughed and said that it might make it a little difficult to pick up.

Tik placed a large claw-tipped finger through the little hoop formed by the figures shaking hands and lifted it up, instantly her face lit up like a freedom day tree as she saw what waited for her underneath, goddess above she utterly adored this male of hers, he just knew her and understood her so well, like no ever had or had even bothered to try.

On the ceramic plate that was waiting underneath kept warm by the specially designed dome which trapped the heat was the breakfast of a true huntress, spider boar bacon and sausages, eggs with broken yolks somehow arranged so the yolk cooked into perfect hearts, mushrooms and blood pudding which Ack called black pudding which was an ooman delicacy from the shores of the region from where he hailed on Earth, a delicacy that had been eagerly adopted by the Yautja here as it was utterly delicious, finished up with three yellow triangles that Ack called hash browns, another ooman delicacy but these were made from the fresh wonderful potatoes grown and tended here by the Xeno farmers of Murphy and Aine's hive.

"Oh my Ack you always know don't you?" Tik said softly as she smiled at the lovingly prepared breakfast of a huntress, her Ack used to call it a full English breakfast but now given how many tables in Yautja homes this exact style of breakfast was served in it had renamed as the breakfast of the hunt or huntress's breakfast.

Tik wolfed the lovingly prepared food down leaving the love heart eggs till last, that in itself had become a kind of ritual to her, she always left these lovingly crafted little yolk hearts till last, to her they were proof of her beloved husbands love for her given form so she always made sure she savoured them, silly she knew but it was how she felt and she stuck to her little ritual just like she would any other she did before a hunt.

Once her delicious breakfast was done she found the little note hidden under her plate, another of her beloved husband's tricks, he knew she'd find it but only after she'd eaten her food and calmed down a little bit, her beautiful male knew her too well, she looked at the note.

'I'm sorry I left early my heart's brightest star but I have a lot to do today sorting out the Ghost Slitherers so I had an early start, I promise I will make it up to you later, find me in the mid-afternoon I'll have a surprise waiting for you, till then I will count the moments till I can touch you again my love' She read aloud to herself and clicked her mandibles thoughtfully and longingly.

"I'll be counting those moments too my love," she said quietly to herself raising from the bed and stretching herself again, she climbed from the bedsheets as naked as the day she was born, she walked into their bathroom and stepped into their large shower, turning it on and feeling the instant bite of the cold water before it heated up and soothed her muscles.

She washed herself slowly relishing the feeling of the hot water and the soap on her skin, she wished that her husband could have been here to share this with her so that she could have washed his beautiful body for him while he returned the favour to her, just the thought of her husband's hands on her flesh made her purr with want, oh she was going to find him later today alright.

Once she was clean again she climbed out and dried herself off with their shared towel, Ack had once told her of oomans odd habit of having a 'his' and 'hers' towel set but Yautja did not believe in such things, all things in a Yautja marriage were shared completely, there was no his or hers only ours, using the towel she rubbed her husband's delicious scent onto herself so not only would it always remind her of his presence in her heart but so that other Yautja females would smell it and know the joy that was solely hers.

Once her shower was done she headed back into the bedroom and got dressed, first in her underwear and then in her clan armour, her's marked her as the Grand Matriarch of Clan Mason just as Ack's marked him as Grand Patriarch, bright gold and his royal blue, though they had been debating lately about changing the Seeker armour to silver, plus she really wanted him to wear the cape just like Tan sal eleth did, she reckoned that it made him look even more dashing and fierce.

The last thing she did was attach her dread ornaments, all of them bar a handful were gifts from her beloved cubs, carved from the bones of their hunts and then set into metal by her beloved husband, just so that they could be presented to her as gift trophies, through this they shared the honour of their hunts with her the one who had bore them into this world and had made those glorious hunts possible, she also had ornaments from her hunts that she had carved with her own hands, each little charm told a story and she wore each and every one with pride, she also had a great many to choose from so she made a point to wear a different set every single day so that her beloved ones would know that she honoured them as much as they honoured her.

Once she was finished dressing Tik heard a chittering and a hissing coming from above her and she looked up at the ceiling before her face morphed into an exasperated scowl, "No matter how many times I tell those pauking cubs of Aine's they never listen" she said to herself in exasperation, she marched across her bedroom and flung open the large coloured glass doors to step out onto the balcony where her and her Ack would watch the sunset over their beautiful creation every day they were home.

Spinning around on the spot and making dreads fan out around her head while utterly ignoring the beautiful view over the growing city below her Tik's keen senses locked onto the guilty parties, sitting like a neat row of what Ack called Gargoyles on the very top layer of their roof was a line of very guilty looking winged Xenos all looking at her with the same surprised and guilty-looking expression.

"Pauking seriously you lot?" Tik said in exasperation.

"We're sorry Grand Matriarch, it's just so pretty up here, it's even prettier up here than on top of our hive, we can see the whole city from here and its really beautiful" one of the Xeno's hissed softly and apologetically, Tik growled, they weren't bad cubs really and technically thanks to Xeno growth they were fully grown adults now, though they still acted like cubs in many ways, like this one for instance.

Tik growled again, "Get on home now I'm sure you're queen has chores for you to do and if you do not do them right quick I'll be telling her where you are hiding you understand me?" Tik growled menacingly.

All of the Xenos nodded like a set of nodding dogs their long domed heads bobbing up and down on their long necks, "Yes Grand Matriarch" they all hissed and with that they spread their large black bat-like wings and took to the air, flying in formation as they headed back towards their hive in the distance.

Tik shook her head making her charms jangle among her dreadlocks as she watched them fly, "Bloody flying Xenos I swear to Paya if they start shitting on everything like the damn crows I'm going to start using them as target practice" Tik grumbled to herself as she stepped back inside and closed the doors behind her.

Heading downstairs Tik called into the armoury along her way, she snapped on her dual wrist blades and checked the trigger mechanisms making the large dark metal blades shoot forwards and then retract into their scabbards, after that she lifted one of her hunting masks up and placed it on her belt before attaching her plasma casters onto her shoulder mounts, as Grand Matriarch she had to be ready to defend the clan at any moment no matter what and Tik eleth took her duty very very seriously.

The last thing she grabbed was the new war spear her husband had forged for her last birthday and she tested the release mechanism, causing the long trident like prongs shot out and she spun it in her hands like a warrior ballerina, her Ack had always said she somehow seemed to make fighting look like dancing, well unless someone threatened their cubs, then she made it look like someone had forced an entire war inside one skin and unleashed it.

She clipped the spear to her belt so that it sat above her arse and then flicked her dreadlocks back over her shoulders so they were tucked behind her casters, it was time to go to work, she had an entire clan to serve and Tik took that service very seriously, in a clan every member looked to the Grand Matriarch and Patriarch to set the example and she was determined that Clan Mason would be every bit the shining beacon of hope that she believed it was and with her beloved Dream Warrior husband right there at her side she would stand tall and proud at its head, leaders lead from the front, you never gave a job to someone else that you were not willing to do yourself, that was the difference between a leader and a boss, a boss told you to do something, a leader showed you how to do it themselves.

Tik stepped out into the bright sunlight of the new day and she filled her lungs with the fresh clean air, she blew out the breath and smiled to herself, there was nowhere else in the whole universe that she would rather be than right here, this was her home.

Tik decided that she would head through the main city over to the Hunter's proving grounds, as she walked people stopped to salute her and pay respect to her and her station, Tik always returned the salutes with enthusiasm, if someone took the time from their day to greet her and pay respect she made sure it was returned.

About halfway across the city she spotted five very familiar faces, or rather she spotted four familiar faces and then the fifth tucked in between them and she smiled warmly as she approached as Seeker Dimondscale snapped to attention and presented a crisp salute.

'Good morning Grand Matriarch" he said and she saluted him back.

"Good morning Liam, you and your pack out for a morning stroll err slither are you?" she asked and Liam smiled at her and shook his head.

"Not quite Grand Matriarch, we were actually just taking a look around the city and doing a bit of planning, then we were going to head over to the Hunter proving grounds to find yourself" Liam sad and Tik cocked her head curiously.

"To find me?" she asked and he nodded.

"We were discussing where a good spot would be for the Serpentinus embassy, the kind Xeno's of Yoshi and Citrus's hive has promised us that they can build it in a single day which I must admit is a feat that both astounds and excites me to see, our beloved husband was showing us potentially good sites within the city for it to be situated so that it could be easily accessible to all" Celia said nuzzling her husband gently.

This made Tik smile and nod, "While he and Celia we doing that he was going to drop us off at various places throughout the city, I was going to queen Zara and king Cortez's hive to do a medical exchange with your Battle Angels, there is just so much I believe we can learn from each other" Leba said happily and both Sev and Veme nodded in agreement as they waved their little tounges at their husband.

"An excellent idea young Seeker, a cultural exchange is always good for our people and I am pleased that you would seek me out to discuss the matter of the embassy, as it happens I have just the place in mind," Tik said and she gestured with her hand for them to follow her.  
"You have an amazing and beautiful world Grand Matriarch, I see now why everyone that I have spoken to refers to it as paradise made real, I have never in my life seen such harmony," Celia said and Tik clicked her mandibles happily and proudly.

"Thank you ambassador it pleases me you think so, we have worked so very hard to build this place, it is the truest labour of love that you can imagine but every step we have taken has been worth it and every day we grow larger and stronger, I know in my heart that I will be here the day that this Clan that we have built spreads beyond this world on which we now stand, but I also know that the principles on which it was founded will travel even further and nothing makes me prouder," Tik said smiling as she saw the pride shining in Liam's face as he hung on her every word, for it was already happening and he was walking talking proof while his loving pack were slithering proof of the unbridled power of unrestricted and pure love.

Tik led them to a spot that overlooked the large park where the parent of all the races had already gathered to let their beloved cubs play together, it made Tik's heart swell with pride to see that there were Serpentinus cubs among them already, their parents were happily watching them as they made new friends among other races.

"Here would be perfect, it's a straight shot to Citrus and Yoshi's hive as well as Zara and Cortez's hive and it is big enough that a landing pad can be built here for diplomatic travel, I will see to it that Serpentinus military craft is granted allied status in our airspace though I would ask you to restrict civilian travel here until we have something concrete and ratified in place to allow monitored travel, we will do the same obviously," Tik said and Celia nodded in agreement.

"Very well Grand Matriarch, I will need communications systems to be able to contact my people," she said and Tik nodded.

"From what I understand Yoshi and Citrus's lot are already working on a communication system that will allow our two planets to communicate in real-time, we already have very sophisticated long-range comms but the distances involved create a significant challenge, we can use relay satellites for now but they will always be vulnerable to attack or hacking, but rest assured we will have something in place for you," Tik said and Celia nodded.

"Thank you Grand Matriarch, then I will happily accept your offer," Celia said offering her hand in the ooman sign of friendship and trust, Tik smiled and took it shaking it as she did.

"Excellent I will contact the hive and tell them to get their engineers over here right away to begin construction, it is my distinct hope that very soon we will have Serpentinus happily slithering about all over our world sharing in our love and our freedom," she said and Celia smiled.

"As I hope to see Yautja, Humans and Xenos walking across mine with the same joys that we hold as our own and I agree with my pack sister, there is just so much we can learn from each other," she said making Tik click her mandibles happily and nod.

She lifted her wrist comp up and made the call to the hive and she conferenced her beloved daughter in on it as the Saviors combat engineers were the best in the business and even before she had finished speaking to queen Citrus, Xeno engineers dressed in Saviour overalls were streaming down from both the hive and from the Savior building, there were both humans and Yautja among them of course but they were outnumbered four to one by their Xeno brothers and sisters.

While Celia and her pack watched in utter astonishment hard hats began getting dished out and Xenos began rolling out plans and blueprints and began screeching at one another and pointing, teams began to erect a cordon and seemingly out of nowhere four shuttles carrying building supplies arrived overhead.

"I must leave you now ambassador but please feel free to remain and to oversee the build and do not hesitate to inform the engineers of any special requirements your people need like basking rooms for example," Tik said and Celia nodded and smiled then Tik turned to look at Liam, "I understand that you are overseeing a mate hunt this afternoon young Seeker?" she said and Liam nodded.

"That's right the arbiters called me this morning to confirm the hunt is on for young Marcus, should be quite the show I know quite a few Yautja girls are interested in that boy," Liam said and Tik chuckled to herself and nodded.

"Yes so I hear what do they call him over at the proving grounds now, the ebony angel is it?" Tik said and Liam laughed and nodded.

"That's the one, goddess above that boy is in for the run of his life I know he's got at least four full-blooded huntresses after him," Liam said and Tik roared with laughter and nodded.

"Well they do say that that boy can run, I remember when my Ack caught him looking at my rear as I trained while he was cleaning the training blades for us," Tik said with a chuckle and Liam roared with laughter.

"He told me that story, he didn't know what Markus was more afraid of, our Grand Patriarch catching hold of him or you finding out," Liam said and Tik grinned all over her mandibles.

"I was utterly clueless as to what was happening, I hear this loud squeak of I'm sorry Grand Patriarch I will never do it again and suddenly he's running across the compound like his arse is on fire, I was so very tempted to put him on the track team as an instructor, suddenly my beloved one appears smiling like an idiot and he tells me what's happening as we both watch Markus run clear across the city to hide at home, such an innocent boy at times, I know this is biased but I do hope a huntress catches him, he obviously knows a quality huntress when he sees one," she said proudly and Liam grinned at her.

"You know our Grand Patriarch has not let him live it down, that was three years ago and he was only fifteen but even now when he sees him he still waves at no one and yells hey my beloved one while looking behind him to watch him freak out and spin round and no matter how many times he does it Markus still turns white and spins around like he's about to end up a skull on your trophy wall," Liam said making Tik roar with laughter.

"He only looked that is not a sin, if he had touched however then it wouldn't be me he'd need to be afraid of, my Ack would have nailed both the offending hand and his dick to my trophy wall before I'd have been able to blink," she said with a purr of pride and love in her voice that made Liam smile and nod.

"Being a Dream Warrior has its benefits Grand Matriarch the biggest of which is the power to protect the ones we love from whatever comes even when they don't need it because to us it proves who we are to the ones who's opinions count to us" he said and as he said it she saw him looking at Celia and his pack who had now seemingly all acquired hard hats that were designed for Xenos so they stuck to their smooth heads as they went over the plans for their new embassy.

Tik waved her farewells to Liam and his pack and headed off towards the proving grounds, as she was walking towards the outskirts of the city where the proving grounds were located to keep them away from the main urban areas she heard an earth-shattering scream and her blood went from hot to cold in an instant before she even knew it Tik had her mask on and her spear in her hand, her casters were up and spinning and she was running full tilt towards the source of the sound.

Tik's footfalls on the sidewalk sounded like thunder as she ran towards the source of the noise and she wasn't the only one others who had heard the scream was also joining the run, Yautja, ooman and Xeno got on her tail and ran towards the sound without hesitation, as they arrived at the edge of the forest they found a hysterical looking ooman woman looking utterly frantic and she was staring into the forest.

"What's happening?" Tik demanded approaching the woman and she snapped towards her and the look of sheer relief on her face spoke volumes for the regard that everyone here held Tik in.

"Oh, Grand Matriach thank the goddess! My Luca! I can't find him! He was playing in the garden and I only stepped inside for a moment to get us some drinks and when I came out he was gone!!! Please Grand Matriarch you have to help me! He's only five years old!!!" the frantic ooman woman cried her voice filled with a hard note of panic.

Tik's mind instantly went into overdrive, the forests here were no joke, both Hunters and Saviors not to mention their own eco conventionalists patrolled the area around the city to prevent the fauna entering the city, Tik spun to the group that had followed her, "Alright people we have a lost cub I want a search party out right this instant and out and we will find him!" she roared and the whole group despite being non-military snapped to attention and began to form into a search line.

She turned back to the mother, "Fear not we will find your wayward cub I swear it to you" Tik said softly and the mother grabbed her hands in her own.

"Oh thank you Grand Matriarch goddess bless you!!" she cried.

Tik released her and instructed one of the group to take care of her before activating her wrist comp and triggering the comms, "Tik eleth calling all nearby Hunter, Savior and Seeker units lock onto my position we have a lost ooman cub and a potential threat to life, get here immediately!!" she roared.

The response was instantaneous, voices began replying and it was only seconds before a team of blue-suited Saviors rounded the corner sprinting at full tilt towards her followed only thirty seconds later by golden Hunters who must have been on their way to the proving grounds for morning training, their boots echoed through the streets, "Hunters on me! Saviours fan out and direct the search using the civilians!!" Tik roared and everyone instantly went to work and the team of four full-blooded hunters fell in behind her as she turned and marched towards the forest.

Tik turned on her thermal vision and her and her hunters took to the trees as the search party fanned out below them and began calling he ooman cub's name, they looked like yellow and red figures moving through the blue-tinted foliage below them as the Hunters scaled upwards into the branches and began running along the thick vine-covered branches, "Grand Matriach look there! Footprints!!" one of her Hunters said pointing over to their right Tik followed his finger and began to run along the branch leaping deftly to the next one over and using her claws to steady herself, Hunter boots had claw caps in the toe for this exact reason so the Yautja didn't lose their climbing ability.

Tik ran with her Hunters on her tail leaping through the trees following the footprints below them until they just came to a stop and Tik's thermal vision revealed a dark mass in the ground, switching back to normal vision Tik spotted why the footprints stopped, there was a large hole in the ground which indicated to her that the cub had either fallen or bagged into the hole, but she was leaning towards the former as there were no other tracks around so with a mighty leap Tik jumped down fro the tree landing with a boom next to the lip.  
"Lucas!?" Tik called leaning to look into the hole and she saw a shape moving at the bottom of the hole which looked to be about 20ft deep, "H-H-Hello? Please help me! I fell down and can't get out!" a very small and scared sounding voice called up and Tik flicked her thermal vision up again and she saw a small yellow and gold shape at the bottom.  
A loud snarl suddenly burst from the foliage ahead of them and all five of them looked up to see a large shape lumbering out of the underbrush, Tik snarled at the Red Cave Bear at the huge creature reared up to unleash a bellowing roar at them which both Tik and the other Hunters returned in kind, every one of them readied their weapons and formed up on their Gran Matriach ready to fight to the death for her and the lost cub causing Tik's pride to swell in her chest.

Priority one was to defeat the bear then they could safely extract the lost cub from the hole, Tik jumped the hole in a single bound and her Hunters swarmed around the sides coming at the bear from all sides at once in order to confuse the large animal, it worked perfectly because now finding itself surrounded on three sides and with an angry Yautja female charging right at it the bear faltered, a fatal mistake often made by large predators as they do not often expect their prey to charge them rather than run away, working without instruction but as a perfect single-minded organism just the way they were taught her Hunters hit the bear from three sides at once with her leading the charge.

Two Hunters hit the startled bear from its flanks while Tik hit it from the front, the other two acted like bulwarks using their wrist blades to deflect the bear's swipes from its huge claws while Tik leapt at it's exposed underbelly plunging her wrist blades into the centre of its chest and piercing its heart with a single incredibly heavy punch to its rib cage accompanied with a huge angry roar.

The punch was a killer blow and the bear's eyes rolled up into its huge skull and its huge body wavering for a moment before falling flat onto its face as the Hunters leapt clear, Tik growled at it, normally she would have been the first to be taking a trophy from such a splendid beast, but today there were bigger priorities, "Mark the body for pick up and transport it to the butchers and tanners" she said to the nearest Hunter a male ooman by the name of Danny who saluted and immediately made the call.

Tik turned back to the hole and with a single leap dropped to the bottom of it where she instantly found the young ooman cub cowering against an exposed tree root, he looked up at her with a huge bright blue set of eyes that instantly reminded her of her own beloved ooman, she tapped her wrist comp, "This is Grand Matriarch Tik eleth Mason, we've located the lost cub, cancel the search and get everyone back to the city" she said and was instantly acknowledged.

Tik crouched down and lifted her hunting mask from her face and clipped it back onto her belt before smiling warmly at the frightened cub, "It's alright little one, you're safe now no one would ever dare harm you while I am here" she said softly as she reached out a large hand to him.

"Y-Y-Your the Grand Matriarch aren't you? My mommy told me that you're really strong and pretty and you fight all the bad things" Lucas said in a soft voice and Tik couldn't help but smile brightly.

"Then your Matriach is wise and what she says is true, so you see the little one you are safe now, come now and I will take you to her, she must be very worried about you," she said and Lucas nodded and moved forwards so fast that when he got older she was definitely recommending him for Hunter training as he threw his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly.

"I was so scared that no one would find me, I'm sorry Grand Matriarch I didn't mean to run off, I-I-i saw a Clover fly and it was just so pretty that I followed it before I knew it I didn't know where I was and then I fell in the hole....." Lucas said sobbing as he spoke Tik wrapped her large muscled arms around him.

"It's alright little one, it's ok now, I'm here and you're safe, come now I'll take you home," she said and with that, she lifted him up and with a mightily leap she jumped clear out of the hole landing on the lip with a heavy thud.

Her Hunters were still waiting at the lip of the hole standing guard against any other potential threats, she nodded at them and they all fell in step with her as they headed for the edge of the forest, as they emerged they found the crowd that had helped search for the wayward little cub waiting with his Matriach helping to keep her calm as soon as they saw Tik emerging cradling the cub in her arms they began to clap and cheer their collective joy and relief evident in every face present, there was not a single thing one of these people and indeed any of the people of Clan Mason would not do to protect an innocent cub, they were the Clan's greatest treasure and were to be protected at all costs.

"Lucas!! Oh, thank the great huntress above! You found him! You found my baby!!" his Matriach wailed running forwards to take her cub from Tik and to clutch him tightly to her chest showering him with kisses while at the same time scolding the sobbing cub for running off, before finally looking up at her.

"Thank you Grand Matriarch I don't have the words to even thank you here for what you've done, may the great huntress herself bless you're every hunt and day," the relived woman said and Tik smiled at her.

"You are most welcome, keep him safe and keep him close young one," Tik said and the woman nodded.

"I will, I swear it to you Grand Matriarch," she said and with that, he carried her still sobbing cub back towards their house while the gathered people began to disperse and head back to their business leaving Tik and her Hunters standing on the street.

"Good job all of you, we Hunters must always remember that while soldiers of the Clan we may be we are Guardians first and every one of these people is under our care, from the weakest to the strongest we protect them all, every pauking one of them, never forget that," she said and as one each of the Hunters snapped into a crisp and proud salute.

"Yes Grand Matriach!!" they bellowed proudly and she nodded happily but before they could turn to head up to the proving grounds Danny stepped forwards.

"Permission to speak Grand Matriarch," he said and she nodded and gestured for him to continue, "I took the liberty of requesting that when our collection team picks up the bear carcass for transport to the butchers that they instruct the butcher to remove its head and deliver it to the proving grounds, you made the kill Grand Matriarch and you should have a trophy to celebrate it especially as the prize was so substantial," he said and Tik clicked mandibles happily.

"Thank you Hunter you honour me and the ways of the hunt," she said and he smiled and nodded happy that she was pleased, with that they all turned and walked up to the proving grounds together.

As they walked through the entrance of the proving ground compound Tik drew her mandibles up into a large smile, no matter how many times she saw this sight it filled her heart with joy and pride, there were new Hunters in training or Young Bloods as they were fondly referred to as being drilled and instructed by Drill Sargent's like Montgomery Duffy who was currently running the new recruits a quarter of his age around the parade square dressed in their PT gear and looking like they were dying, while he looked like he'd just stepped out of a summer meadow.

In fact, it was Monty who first spotted Tik as she walked in, "Grand Matriarch on deck!! Recruits ATTENSHUN!!!!" he bellowed in a voice so loud Tik swore it probably just scared the hell out of Paya herself, but then her beloved Ack had always said there were two things that every good Sargent Major could do, fight like demons in a blood rage and shout louder than god.

Every single person in the entire compound snapped cleanly to attention and saluted her, "At ease Hunters as you were" Tik said saluting back and all of them carried on with their training and tasks, some were on the range, some were running the urban assault course learning how to deal with house to house fighting, some were doing hand to hand combat using a mixture of ooman and Yautja techniques, it was a glorious sight to behold and filled her with immense pride that every single one of these sons and daughters of Clan Mason wouldn't even think twice about giving their very lives to protect it, they were like her surrogate cubs.

There were two faces she did not expect to see here as well which made her curious, she walked over and both of them snapped into a crisp salute, "Grand Matriach good morning" Seeker Vermone said crisply.

"Good morning Seeker Vermone I must say I'm surprised to see you here, what can me and my Hunters do for you this fine morning?" Tik said saluting back.

"Well this beautiful little Draconis here has decided he wants to be a proud serving member of the Clan and has decided to join the Saviors, he wants to wear the shield upon his chest with pride and Matriach Sela eleth has already passed him for entry as a combat engineer, so he's here to stat his Hunter training and I said I'd bring him up here today and watch over him while he starts his training," Analise said proudly as she smiled at the happy looking Draconis male to her side and instantly Tik saw the connection between the two as clear as day, there was love in both their eyes.

"Excellent, most excellent indeed, this makes me very happy and proud Kelmar, I will make sure you have the very best training here when you return to your soon to be Savior brothers and sisters I will ensure that you will be every bit the credit to them that Seeker Vermone knows you already will be," she said.

"Thank you so very much Grand Matriarch! I will make you all proud of me! I swear it on my soul before you all" Kelmar said and Tik nodded.

"We already are young one, it takes true guts to stand up after what you've been through and to fight for the ones you love," Tik said and Kelmar's smile lit up his scaly face.

Tik made arrangements for them and both Kelmar and Analise thanked her as they were led away for Kelmar's training to begin, Tik herself headed to the personal training grounds reserved for her own Hunter team, Hunter one and no sooner had she walked into the large underground area than all of her team snapped to attention and saluted her.

"Good morning Hunters so what have we got scheduled for today?" Tik said saluting them before they fell at ease.

"Well after the recent training battle with the Seekers and with what happened on the Serpentinus homeworld I thought a little orbital drop and assault training would be good for us, work on our response time from both ends of the spectrum, we could get Hunter one to play facility guards and we assault and then reverse the roles and they hit us," V'Lek said looking at her hopefully and Tik smiled brightly and nodded.

"Sounds good to me, let's get it set up, contact Shena and let's get Hunter two geared up and we'll all head out to the test area," she said and the whole team snapped to attention again and saluted.

"Yes Grand Matriarch!" they all chorused and Tik smiled, this was going to be fun, nothing other than a good hunt got the blood pumping like a combat exercise, well other than chasing her husband through the forest anyway.

A couple of calls later and everything was set up and ready, "Ok listen up, here's the plan, our job is to reach the control room and download the sensitive data, it is a stealth infiltration mission but it comes with a complete by any means clause, a perfect completion is done without them ever seeing or knowing we were there, but unlike normal I'm not calling it a failure if we are detected, so it is a combat efficiency test as well, to see how we do under combat conditions and pressure, so its weapons free but set to stun only obviously and triple-check that fact before we leave I want no accidents on this mission, first we will drop the orbital drop pods down close to the base, this will cover our assault" Tik said and V'Lek looked curious.

"We won't be inside them Grand Matriarch?" he asked and she grinned and shook her head.

"No they will be filled with Screamers which will drive their sensors crazy and sow confusion allowing us to enter undetected," Tik said with a devious smile.

Now Screamers were technically called XCWHP's they were a distraction drone designed to throw detection sensors utterly haywire, they created heat blooms everywhere using micro plasma flares which rendered thermal imaging useless, they fired off micro chaff which made both radar and motion sensors useless, plus not just all of that but on top of that they were cloaked and created all sorts of screeches and hissing noises to distract people, they were utter chaos in a can, they looked like little robotic spiders that could stick to any surface.

Now no-one outside of Citrus's hive actually knew what XCWHP stood for so they just called them Screamers because of the noise they made, though the running joke was XCWHP stood for Xenos Caught Watching Human Porn, because you pretty much got the same result, lots of running in all directions and screaming, thought to be fair none of then had understood what that meant someone explained to them what porn was, there was a lot of confusion and embarrassment to mention laughter that day.

"We will be following the pods down using the orbital wingsuits, if the Seekers can do it so can we," Tik said passionately and proudly and her team all nodded in agreement, Tik pointed at the layout of the compound on the holographic map, "Ok this is our landing spot, they will not expect us to drop right in on top of them, that's why our crazy Seekers caught us so off guard, we never expected them to drop in so close, so we'll take their tactic and put it to good use, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for us," Tik said and again there were lots of nods.

Twenty minutes later they were in position in orbit of the planet and her team were checking their orbital armour, Hunter armour was all-purpose but it was the add ons that could be bolted to it that made it so very adaptable, like for instance these orbital drop wings and manoeuvring thrusters, which was essentially a highly modified wingsuit to allow them to fly in space and glide in atmosphere, it allowed for rapid deployment anywhere on the planet even without the drop pods.

"Ten seconds!" Tik said as the rear of the shuttle vented atmosphere and went full vacuum, her team lined up on the door with her at the front, Tik gave a thumbs up and every one place a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them to show that they were ready, she counted down the final five seconds on her hand before hitting the door release on zero and pushing off.

It never failed to take her breath away, the view of their beautiful home from space just utterly inspired the soul, her HUD kicked in and began displaying her glide path towards the planet, a huge ball of green and blue floating in an ocean of black, her team formed up on her sides and in a wing shape with her at its tip they all flew towards the planet using their thrusters to control their flight.

"Deploy the pods now," Tik said over the comms and from the second shuttle a series of drop pods were released, they were following a specially programmed autopilot sequence that would land them all around the compound at a distance that would convince Hunter two that they contained their adversaries, well right up until the Screamers went off and like a room filled with Xenos caught watching something rather risque with the lights suddenly turned on, the Screamers would be off screeching and screaming in all directions and driving them nuts.

The pods streaked passed them creating huge golden-red streaks of flame as they entered the atmosphere, soon they were leaving their own streaks as they too hit the atmosphere and began to angle downwards to increase their decent speed using gravity to pull them into a steep dive, once they cleared the outer atmosphere they deployed their wings and a jolt of force pulled them upwards robbing them of their speed, "Deploy cloaking" Tik said and as one the whole team vanished being replayed with white outlines as their configured visors revealed them, granted Hunter two also had the equipment necessary to see through their cloaking tech but it wouldn't do them much good if they didn't know where to look.

Their head's up displays lit up to inform them that the pods had deployed and the Screamers were off causing chaos, which by the little moving shapes on the ground was exactly what was happening, Tik could see little figures running around trying to figure out what in the bloody name of hell was going on and why the place sounded like it was filled with pissed off Xenos, all the while above them Hunter one glided down silently following their glide path right up untilthey deployed their thrusters to make a landing on the building roof, well right after Tik hit their sniper with a pair of well-placed stun shots from her wrist launcher.

As part of the training, both teams had their energy shielding disabled to make it more realistic, as stun shot would have utterly zero effect against a shielded opponent, they had three different types of it on them if you counted their projectile weapons, about six each if you counted their melee weapons, the point wasn't to injure their opponents but to simply take them out of the fight, when her most beloved one had introduced this idea to her many years ago when they first built the Clan Tik had thought he was crazy, Yautja really didn't take prisoners often and those they did take got made slaves, or basically living trophies which was now a practice that Tik utterly abhorred.

But taking prisoners of war that was a different concept and Tik saw the value in that, potential allies and sources of intel, so they had designed all of their weapons to have a stun setting which when they fired magnetically sealed pockets of superheated plasma gas was easier said than done as plasma was pretty much designed to melt through armour or flesh depending on what it hit, it also meant that the rail guns were out of the question due to the power they hit with, so instead the clever Xenos of Yoshi's hive had redesigned their weapons to have a stun setting.

Now the standard rifles used by the Clan were combination railgun and plasma casters as both weapons use the same principles to fire their projectiles, lots of electromagnets in a row forming a barrel formation, in rail gun mode the magazine-fed small tungsten slugs into the breach which were then accelerated down the barrel by the magnets with very little recoil, while the plasma caster system fed gasses from canisters located in the buttstock, the whole weapon was configured to be a bullpup weapon to condense the length and maximise the accuracy.

They Yautja plasma casters used a similar process except they extracted gases from the atmosphere which was achieved during the 'spin up' they did before firing, this gave them limitless ammunition but meant they required more power to run, in stun mode, they fired a electrical charge that had a far shorter range than the plasma shot and a hell of a lot shorter range than the rail guns, but they didn't kill.

The wrist launchers fired a series of darts with interchangeable payloads that could do everything from set your target on fire, to explode, to punch through armour like a miniature SABOT round, or in the case as they had today deliver a super high voltage shock to the target shorting out their nervous systems and rendering them unconscious, just like Hunter two's sniper who was now laid flat on the roof.

As the team landed their wings collapsed and folded into the containers on their backs and under their arms and between their legs, they adopted a circular defensive formation, Tik used hand gestures to indicate for her team to move up to the door, they stacked up and Tik scanned it for sensors and instantly found two of them and she grinned, Shena was crafty and that made her proud her beloved cub had chosen well with his huntress she was a true asset to the Clan.

Gesturing with hand signals to the team what she had found and immediately Vez stepped forwards and attached a small sensor device to the door which she controlled from her wrist comp, she was the team's electronic warfare expert, she immediately began hacking the sensors and disrupting them, now if Tik knew Shena and she did she'd have safeguards against that, so the trick wasn't to take them offline but to disrupt them for a few moments, just long enough to allow the team to pass through, which is exactly what Vez did, as soon as her thumb went up they went through.

The next thing they had to deal with was laser grids, Shena was really going all out here but then she was going up against Hunter one and Tik eleth herself which made Tik feel pride, her daughter in law took her very seriously, fortunately, the next-gen cloaking tech that they used bent light around the wearer which allowed them to walk right through the lasers without setting them off, fortunately, these lasers weren't the kind that cut you into meaty chunks but just tripped an alarm.

They moved silently through the compound while their Screamers caused chaos outside but Tik knew that by now Hunter two had realized what was going on, the team reached the control room which was located on the upper levels, as they rounded the corner they saw the door and again they saw more sensors and Tik indicated them for Vez to step up and she began hacking them which took her seconds.

As soon as her thumb went up they opened the door and burst in and no sooner had they done so the world opened up on them causing them to have to dive for cover and deploy their wrist shields which they were allowed to use as they could be overloaded by the stun weapons, Tik had not been expecting to find Shena herself set up beyond the door in the exact same way she herself had been when the Seekers had hit them and they most definitely could not move like Seekers could.

Shena's plasma minigun and twin plasma casters unleashed an absolute barrage of fire on the doorway as the team burst inwards their shields taking hits making the blue shields look like the surface of a lake in the rain as each shot that hit them sent ripples along them, the entire team unleashed a barrage of fire on Shena but she'd been smart here and had set up two shields on the ground in front of her which deployed the moment that she'd begun firing, but she hadn't been counting on Tik eleth's level of crazy as while her entire team had taken cover to return fire Tik herself had leapt clear across the room on a huge flying dive, Yautja had incredible leaping strength which really helped them when leaping through trees when hunting.

Shena's masked head began to lift as Tik flew over her head but Tik had timed her dive perfectly and before Shena's casters could spin around to target her Tik had already flipped over and kicked off the far wall and she hit Shena in the back with her stun wrist blades which were modified to act like large tazers so they wouldn't pierce like normal blades would as they were little more than large rods that shot forwards and delivered a huge shock as she made contact with Shena's broad back.

There was a muffled roar from inside her mask and Shena went right down like a sack, Tik rolled over and flipped back onto her feet rising just in time to see the utterly stunned looks of her team as they rose from cover, Tik simply flicked her sealed dreads and smiled, she was not Grand Matriarch for nothing.

"Hunter one three grab the drives, everyone else fan out and cover, this just went loud" Tik barked at her team and they split up and assumed a defensive formation if Tik was right a second before she began firing Shena would have sent out a distress call to her team, so they would be on their way to them right now, V'Lez began to remove the drives and when she had them all bagged she gave the thumbs up, Tik charged forwards and stepped out into the corridor where her team was waiting, "Pack it up people were leaving!" she exclaimed just as they heard the running footsteps of the rest of Hunter two converging on them, but they were too late, Tik's team full-on sprinted back to the roof where the waiting shuttle was just arriving after Tik's signal and just like that they were in the air watching the rest of Hunter two burst out onto the roof and Tik could practically hear them yelling in frustration as they watched the shuttle vanish into thin air.  
Shena was not amused when she woke up but she still congratulated Tik on her victory, but like any good leader she didn't hold the failure against her team she just insisted they learn from it, the teams switched places and reran the sernario this time with Tik's team holding the control centre and this time Tik's team repelled the assault or what they thought was the assault, turned out Shena had her entire team launch a massive assault on the compound from multiple points while she took a tip from Tik and came in through the roof, she got all the way to the control centre and very nearly got the drive out untill Tik figured out what was happening and caught her just before she got onto the shuttle, Shena was snarling the whole time she was let out of the net she got caught in just three feet from the shuttle door but to be fair she did manage to throw the drive into the shuttle bay, so she did manage to complete her mission.

"Good jobs out there today people, you all made me proud out there, Shena that dummy assault was excellently executed and I hadn't been high enough to realise that there only four source of fire coming in on us then I'd have never realized that you had snuck past us, it was just bad luck that I got to you before you got on the shuttle and your team vanished, but to be fair you were the only one of your team to get hit and you did secure the drive, so the mission was successful and you proved to me that you are an excellent leader as you were willing to be the one too take the mos risk and lay down your life for your team" Tik said planting a hand on the taller but younger Yautja female's shoulder.

Shena lifted her head and smiled softly, "Thank you Grand Matriach" she said and Tik smiled and nodded.

"Alright people, you are dismissed for the day, I'm heading out now to find my beloved husband, he told me he'd have a surprise waiting for me if I came to find him in the mid afternoon and i do not intend to miss it, so unless i call you you are dismissed for the day" Tik said to her own team and they snapped to attention and then fell out while Shena debriefed her own team, Tik herself shrugged herself out of her battle armor and got her regular gear back on before heading quickly over to the Seeker temple where her most beloved one would be waiting for her.  
Tik reached the Seeker Temple in record time and when she got there she was amazed by the progress that had already been made, in the Temple training grounds instructors were putting Ghost Slitherers through their paces, there were some groups being led in deep meditation in order to better discover their nature and their power, there were groups being lead in exercise slithering laps around the grounds, surprisingly right in the middle of it all was the rescued Scalathor female, she had three Dream Warriors with her.

It appeared that she had imparted all the knowlage she could to the Seekers and was now in the process of being integrated, the Seekers really didn't mess about when it came to this kind of stuff, a good many of their number had once been Nightmare Assassins so to them this was a standard thing and they knew exactly what they were doing, the first thing they would be doing with her would be teaching her how to protect her mind from invasion by dark forces because once bitten they were at high risk, so their fellow Dream Warriors would sit with them and teach them how to fortify their minds.

Tik didn't even pretend to fully understand the utter mysteries of the universe that Dream Warriors were privy to, what was utterly amazing and beyond words to most people was their every day, but that's why they were Dream Warriors, the chosen ones of the gods.

Someone spotted Tik and a shout went up, "Grand Matriach on deck ATTENSHUN!!" and every one of them snapped to attention just like her Hunters, even the Ghost Slitherers stopped and snapped to attention saluting with them.

"At ease, has anyone seen the Grand Patriach?" she said looking around herself untill one of the Seekers broke ranks headed into the Temple at incredible speed and then returned holding a small box with a bow on it.

"He headed out about half an hour ago Grand Matriach but he left this in my care and said that you'd be along to collect it, he said you'd know what it meant" the young Chinese variant human male called Xu said presenting the box to her.

"Thank you Xu" she said and the young Seeker saluted then as they had been stood at ease went back to his training picking up his sword and joining his training partner and his wife a huge Yautja female called B'Tess who had won his mate hunt when he'd come of age, young Xu had been rather popular among the girls and Tik remembered there had been quite the queue at the arbiters office that day.

Tik took the bow off the white little box and was surprised to find that inside was nothing but a little note, Tik frowned as she unfolded it and read it though to her surprise it was written in Yautja, looked like her beloved one was practicing his language skills, though she had to admit it was beautifully written, it seemed to be a set of directions that lead her out towards the jungle, she had to admit she utterly loved where their home was located, it was at the epicentre of so many different biomes, it was like the joining force that linked all of these vastly different areas together.

So off she went catching a shuttle from the Temple to the edge of the jungle area before following her husbands directions that led her to an absolutely huge tree with a hole in it, right above the hole she found a bow and she chuckled to herself, she couldn't help but love her husbands flair for the dramatic, leaned down and looked inside the hole and there was another box but this one much larger and upon opening it she found another note that simply said 'Wear me.'

Inside the box was a set of traditional Yautja hunting garb complete with mask, infact it was her oldest mask the one she had when they first came here and Tik's mandibles drew up into a broad smile as she looked at it, this male of hers just knew her so well, he just utterly knew his way around her heart and soul, so guessing that he was probably lurking somewhere nearby using his Dream Warrior abilities to hide himself form her sight she decided to give him a show, she slowly stripped her Grand Matriach armor off till she was wearing naught but her underwear and she made sure she bent over nice and slow to withdraw the hunting gear from the box before easing her body into it.

When she was done Tik flexed her muscles and smiled, it felt good to wear this stuff again it had been too long since she could just be Tik eleth Mason, huntress, rather than Tik eleth Mason Grand Matriach, she admired her legs through the fish net like leggings that she wore along with the hip and loin armor, their traditional hunting armor was so much freeing and liberating compared to their combat armor which while it did an incredible job of protecting them and was as flexible as possible without compromising strength, it just didn't have the feel of their traditional hunting gear.

Tik looked down and felt herself smile again as she she raked her now bare toes through the soil and leaf litter and she sighed heavily.

"Nothing like the simple feel of dirt beneath your toes huh?" a voice she instantly recognized said from behind her and she spun around just in time to see her beloved husband decloak right next to her, he must have been stood there the whole time watching her get dressed and when she saw how he was dressed a surprised purr escaped her, he was wearing traditional male Yautja hunting clothes, complete with war paint making stripes like red slashes down his bare chest, he even had a scaled down hunting mask on.

Tik's eyes roamed down her beloved husband's bare body drinking in every single inch of him and another purr burst free of her, "I thought it has been too long since me and you got to do something fun together, just the pair of us, not Grand Patriach and Grand Matriach, not clan leaders, just Tik and Jack husband and wife" he said softly and her heart went crazy in her chest, feeling like it had turned into a chest burster trying to escape. 

Without a second through she stepped forwards and picked him up into the tightest hug she could muster without hurting him, placing her forehead against hers and making their masks clank together as she purred into hs face showing him her love as she knew how, this man knew her heart and he cherished it every single day.

When she put him down Jack patted her huge thigh and then turned to pick up something else that had been hidden by the box, he pulled out a large Yautja style bow and a quiver, these things looked like over sized ooman composite bows but fired arrows the size of javelins infact if Ack hadn't been a Dream Warrior he'd have no hope of drawing it let alone firing it, but Tik had taken great pleasure in teaching him how to use traditional Yautja weapons in their early days here and Ack being Ack had taken to this weapon like a Goose to chasing Canadians.

"Lead the way my love, lets hunt" Ack said with determination in his voice and Tik grinned as she activated her cloak and leapt into the trees relishing the feel of the moss beneath her feet as she ran along the branches with her beloved husband right behind her, unlike her she was wearing a kind of sandal with spiked toe caps that allowed him to grip the tree bark like she did, his ooman toes and fingers weren't exactly meant for traveling through the trees at speed, despite having evolved from monkeys which were expert tree climbers, but despite his handicap he never faltered, that incredible Dream Warrior balance of his kept him on track as they ran together.

Tik slowed up and pointed silently as she spied her rey through the canopy, Ack nodded silently and began to circle around her target, she watched him leap gracefully from branch to branch untill he was behind the target, she saw him draw and with a hiss the huge arrow struck the armored lizard in the back of the head, normally for a target this size it would take for or five Hunters but she Knew her most beloved one could take it down on his own infact she'd seen him do it, but now they were working together as a the team they had always been.

No sooner had the huge creature felt the arrow strike it reared up on it huge back legs and let out a bellowing roar which Tik immediately answered with a roar of her own, she began to run along the branch she was perched on just in time to see another arrow from her husband's bow strike the side of it's neck causing it to turn to see where the shots were coming from, it was timed perfectly because as it's head turned Tik reached the end of the branch and leapt into the air.

Tik sailed through the air stretching her body to maximise the distance she traveled through the air, till with a heavy thud she landed right on the creatures back, her presence did no go unnoticed and immidiatly the creature began to thrash and buck to try and get her off, Tik immidiatly flicked her wrist blades out and slammed them into its exposed back to hang on.

The creature let out a bellowing roar of pain and redoubled it's efforts to try and dislodge Tik from its back, its long, thick, spike tail came up like a whip and joined the fray trying to hit her off its back with hitting itself with the long spines, Tik ducked and rolled under it before stabbing her wrist blades back into its back again earning her another bellow, she heard a series of hisses followed by thwoks and along its long neck a line of arrows appeared, it was her beloved Ack circling, he was dashing through the trees at incredible speed and firing when he got the chance and then Tik grinned under mask, he was making her a ladder.

Tik waited for her chance and just after it whipped its tail at her again Tik rolled under it and spirited along hits long back as the dino dozer as Ack called them thrashed, she jumped and grabbed the nearest arrow, its long barbed head held it in place and she began to climb, more arrows appeared ahead of her building her ladder as Tik climbed hand over hand till she was right on the back of it's thick armored skull, thanks to her Ack she knew this tremendous creature's only weak spot, she had to hang on tight and tuck in as it smashed it head against the trees in one last effort to try and dislodge her, but it was too late for it, with one hand Tik flicked her wrist and her spear extended and with a tremendous roar she drove the huge war spear right through its eye and into its brain.

Tik jumped clear with her spear just before the huge creature slammed into the ground with a crash that shook the ground, Tik gathered herself up and held her spear aloft and let out a bellowing roar as she pulled her hunting mask from her face, from the trees an answering victory roar came and a moment later her beloved husband hit the ground and rolled into a crouch right next to her before drawing himself up to his full height.

Tik rushed forwards and tore the mask from his face so she could pull him into a deep meaningful and passionate kiss, her senses were electrified and it felt like sparks were bouncing around inside her head and heart, nothing got her going more than a good hunt with her husband at her side, there was no glory or feeling like it.

As they parted her beloved Ack grinned at her as she stroked his face with her mandibles, "I think this one will make a mighty fine trophy for your wall" he said and she shook her head.

"For our wall my beloved heart, we worked together for this prize and just as you have said before, we share the glory, always" she replied and he smiled then glanced at the Dino Dozer.

"So tusks or teeth?" he said and she grinned.

"I want those tusks, they'll look great hanging over our bed" she said.

Tik used her laser cutter to removed the huge tusks and then bagged them slinging them over shoulder, she also called in the kill for collection, the meat from this thing would feed the people for a decent amount of time and the butchers would seriously have their work cut out with this thing, it wasn't often they had a kill this big to work with.

As they were walking back through the jungle Tik felt a fire spreading through her nerves like hot electric, every one of her finely tuned senses was lit up like a freedom day tree, she heard every sound, felt the softness of the earth between her toes, tasted the salty sweet scent of her male's scent drifting on the hot humid air to her, a familiar and welcome fire began to burn brightly within her and suddenly she knew what she wanted more than anything else in the world and he was right where be belonged at her side and soon he would be under her.

Tik spun and launched herself at Ack but he was ready for her, those Dream Warrior senses of his had lit up and alerted him of her pending sneak attack, so with little effort he caught her and flipped her over his shoulder onto her back dropping on her and using his strength to pin her down as she squirmed and fought him, he growled and snarled and bit down on her shoulder sending electrical pulses through he body making every muscle tense, Ack tore her chest sling off and exposed her breasts to the air.

No sooner had he exposed her teats to the humid jungle air than they hardened into bullets on her chest as she fought with him, her arousal was burning hotter than the sun in her core and she fought with all of her strength managing to succeed in flipping him onto his back as she now tore his clothing from him, his chest rig and shoulder pieces were thrown to one side and she bit and licked his bare chest relishing the salty taste of his sweat on her tounge, "I want whats mine!!!" she snarled loudly.

"Then earn it!" her beloved Ack snarled right back and the fight was well and truely on, as with a deft movement he flipped her again and this time he took her hip armor and loin cloth with him, some how he'd managed to utterly strip her underwear off along with it, but he wasn't the only one with quick hands because she managed to grab his from him as well leaving them both as naked as they day they were born into this universe right there in the middle of the jungle where anyone could stumble upon them if they were brave enough to venture out this far.

Tik lunged at him and grabbed him their fingers interlocking as her countered and she saw his eyes bright and glowing with such a vivid blue that it utterly set her heart on fire, her husband was not going down easy this time, if she wanted the prize that meant more to her than anything, she was truely going to have to earn it.

Tik utterly live for this, the thrill of battle and of the hunt with promise of not only glory but the sweetest prize and trophy of them all for the win drove her on, this beautiful ooman not only embraced her Yautja heart but understood it perfectly, like no one else had ever even bothered to try her entire life she had utterly succeeded in winning her completely, he understood that to her a prize must be won through hardship and struggle and he gave her both right when she needed it the most, their bodies both utterly soaked in sweat and glistening in what light made it through the canopy clashed over and over as they threw and wrestled with one another right there in the open of the jungle floor.

Now she knew that if he truely wanted her down there would be very little she could do to stop him, he could move faster than thought and could see her moves before she even made them, but he fought fair, he reigned in his strength so that it was comprible to her own and didn't use a single one of his Dream Warrior powers to aid him, so no multiple Ack's appearing out of thin air all around her no vanishing into thin air before her only to reappear behind her, no getting her head and making her see things that weren't there like giant snakes, she made the mistake of insisting he unleashed his full strength once and she'd been so utterly beaten that she hand't even had a chance to grab him a single time.

Tik flung Ack over her shoulder and twisted as she did, dropping her shoulder into his chest as he landed on his back with a whoosh of breath, before he could react she grabbed his hands and pinned them above his head forcing down with her body weight onto his pelvis where she felt the evidence of his arousal pressing into her abdominal muscles and making a growl of want escape her, she was careful there not to hurt him, the last thing she could ever bare would be to accidently hurt her beloved male especially in such and intimate way, plus the pair of them had a rule for these matches, no forced couplings, they would only couple once one of them had surrendered and were able to be claimed as the others prize, till that point the fight was on.

But just because they couldn't couple that didn't mean her beloved one couldn't steal kisses from her and pauk was he good at doing that, he struck like a pauking sun cobra grabbing her mandible in his teeth and running his tounge over her tusk sending star bursts into her brain, he managed to get each of her mandibles one after the other before she could respond by grabbing his beautiful face with her mandible tusks and running her tounge over his lips, she knew he wouldn't deny her and she was right, he opened his mouth and let her tounge into roam, she felt his hips buck under her and a deep throaty growl emanated from his chest, she felt a smile in his lips even through the kiss and her heart soared, she knew that she had won, she had earned her prize.

"You are the only person who will ever hear me say these two words because you are the only person worthy of them, I yeild" Ack said in a soft voice that made her heart bounce and her knees shake, she'd won, she'd earned her prize and now she would claim what was owed.

Now in many Yautja Clans after a dominance battle like this the loser would ofteren be humiliated while being mated, but such a thing disgusted and reviled Tik, even the thought of humiliating her most beloved one filled her heart with rage and made her sick to her stomach, she truely believed that only people that had never felt the truth of love could do that to someone that they would share themselves with, no her Ack was a prize, her prize and he would be treated as such, her win meant that he would give her what ever she desired and that was a gift, one to be utterly cherished and cherish and relish him she was going to.

Tik released her hold on hiss wrists and pulled him into another kiss, her long dextrous tounge roaming his warm wonderful mouth, flicking over each and every one of his teeth and she felt his much wider and flatter tounge running over hers stroking it with both love and passion, Tik's mind swirled with possibilities but above them all was the one thing that her beloved human would do for her that untill she met him she never even knew existed, but now she yearned for just as much as she did feeling him inside her.

"I want you to taste me my prey" Tik growled deeply in his ear and she felt him shiver under her which exited her all the more, nothing turned her on more than knowing that even after all these years he still burned and yearned for her in the same way that she did for him, slowly Tik began to turn around while still mounted on his body, keeping him pinned below her.

Once she was facing down his body Tik felt his hands run over her rear end his fingers biting into the meat of her arse and squeezing deeply as he grabbed two handfuls and separated her cheeks making her growl as she could positvly feel him admiring her rear and her most sacred treasures, she slowly pushed herself backwards untill she could feel his hot ragged breaths washing over her sensitive flesh, just before the most incredible sensations tore through her loins like a bolt of lightning as she felt her beloved male's tounge run right over her sensitive lips.

The sensations took Tik's breath away as she felt his tounge worming its way between her sensitive outer lips, squirming its way between them invading her most sacred area, licking, tasting, delving deeper and deeper with every single lick, her beautiful male was so unrestrained in his passions for her, he never shied away from servicing her just as she never shied from the same, she might be in control here but that didn't mean that her most beloved one would go unforfilled for his joy and pleasure were more important to her than her own.

Tik leaned forwards opening up her flower to him and letting him worm his tounge deep inside her mating tunnel tasting her inner walls as it moved and squirmed inside her filling her with heat, her outer lips made a perfect seal over his mouth sealing his tounge inside her, but she wasn't intent to just sit there and take without giving, she flared her mandibles and leaned down extending them to trace her husband's most sensitive flesh.

Tik always reveled in teasing him like this, tracing the pounding veins and arteries that filled this beautiful part of him with hot, red, ooman blood, she felt it jump and twitch as it it was prey trying to escape its determined huntress, but like any good huntress she cornered it and trapped it, moving her mandibles in from four sides to trace up from its roots to its senisitve tip, thats when she deployed one of her special tricks that she had learned from the many years of loving this amazing ooman that drove him wild.

She pushed the four tips of her tusks together right at the very opening of his foreskin,then with a slow deliberate movement the opened them forcing it to peel back over his tip exposing that swollen bright purple tip that radiated heat from his blood, Tik extended her tounge and coiled it around his shaft and began to use it to feed the tube of masculine flesh into her waiting mouth being careful to avoid her spiky teeth before clamping her mandibles shut around it and sealing it in her mouth.

As the pleasure arced up his body her beloved Ack responded in kind by mouthing and nipping at her clit with his blunt teeth sending a star burst of white hot pleasure into her brain, that was the main thing about her husband that she utterly adored, even when he was beat he was never out, he always pushed back, even in surrender his will was always still his own, wild, powerful, unbridled and free, exactly as she always wanted him to be, her hearts brightest star and a joy that was hers and hers alone.

Tik tasted the first pearl of salty pre that leaked from him while she knew that from the hot liquid feeling inside her squirming among the shots of pleasure that she was bathing him in her essence and she wasn't even close yet, nothing fired her engines like this male, he just knew every button to press and he just mashed them untill she couldn't stand it or hold herself back any longer.

But Tik knew how to play that game too, using her long tounge to great effect she began to pump his manhood mercilessly inside her mouth using her mandibles to tickle the fleshy orbs suspended below it as she sucked on him relishing the sensations of him twitching in her mouth.

The pair of them worked on each other with such unbridled passion that neither of them lasted very long under the other attentions, with Tik being the first to let go of the pleasure bomb her body had been holding onto, white hot burning pleasure seared every single nerve in her body and turned her brain to utter mush sending every one of her senses haywire. 

Tik roared despite having a mouthful of suculant sensitive male flesh, which only a second after her own explosion tore through her body, exploded in her mouth sending jet after jet of hot ooman essence down her throat which she swallowed greedily, over the years she grown to utterly adore this taste and this feeling, it was the sweetest thing in the world to her, the taste of her male's joy.

But just like it always did the taste of her male's essence didn't quell her passion, far from it infact it doubled or even trebled it, it was like the purity of this essence drove her senses crazy and sent her want and her need into over drive, Tik jumped up and spun on the spot before dropping back onto her beloved male pinning him to the dirt floor and without a second thought she clamped his face in her mandibles and plunged her tounge into his mouth coiling around his and letting their essences mingle together as each of them tasted one another in the deepest of kisses.

"I WANT whats mine, I NEED whats mine!' Tik snarled deeply as the fire in her belly and her loins became a raging inferno, Ack smiled up at her showing off those warriors teeth of his making her heart blaze with the same fire that was burning through her.

"Than take whats yours my love, whats only yours, you won your hunt so take your trophy, its waiting to be claimed by the huntress worthy of it" Ack purred making Tik growl and snarl with want.

Thanks to being a Dream Warrior her beloved Ack didn't really have a refractory period after his orgasms, his stamina was seemingly as endless as her love for him, as she began to grind her sopping loins against him leaving a trail of her fluids over his soft ooman skin she felt his maleness already engorging with blood as it batted against her arse till she lifted up just enough to trap it between them, then she began to grind on it pumping even more hot ooman blood back into it, he was right, this was her trophy and she was going to claim it.

Tik snarled loudly as she felt his boiling hot, swollen ooman flesh parting her equally hot Yautja flesh, it forced its way inside and began burrowing its way towards her molten hot core, every bit of that delisiouss friction set every nerve on fire, she gripped his shoulders tightly as she felt his hands grip her hips and the two became one, right there on the jungle floor, in the richness and wildness of nature, with the power of mother nature and Lady Paya all around them, it was like none of it existed anymore, all that existed to her was this utterly radiant ooman male between her legs and she could see in his saphire blue eyes, that she was the only thing in his universe.

Tik felt Ack take a hand full of each arse cheek and squeeze as she controlled the pace of their love making, but all real pretence of control or domination was ended, the pleasure in her beloved male's eyes was her truest joy, though feeling his swollen ooman flesh filling the gap in her body so utterly perfectly that it was obvious that her flesh had been sculpted by the Lady of the hunt just for him as he had been sculpted for her was just too obvious to both of them, nothing in her life had fit her as perfectly as him, he was made for her, born to love her to a star far from her own, fate and the will of the goddess had brought them together and had made them from two lost halves into one perfect whole and right now with him buried to the hilt within her, she was whole.

Tik's pace increased her flesh gripping and pumping him furiously, trying to ring her purest joy from him, the beautiful friction between their slick alien flesh sending burning beautiful pleasure through each of them, Ack's moans and growls were utter music to her ears just as she knew her own growls and snarls were music for his, but then came the sweetest part, her truely favorite bit of their love making, when Ack opened himself up to her, it was a soft thing, a gentle thing, a quiet thing but with it came the whole weight of the universe, because she felt his very soul wind into hers and join them, so not only could she feel the please of him withing her but the pleasure of what it felt to be within her, it sent their passions wild.

Her beloved Ack gripped her so tightly as he began to drive upwards into her sending shockwaves of pleasure rippling through her as she got the sensations of not only feeling his tip smashing into the neck of her womb but of the sensations produced by his hitting her there rippling through him, this was what it was to love a Dream Warrior, because with them two truely were one, it became a frenzy, the pair of them crashing into one another over and over their flesh producing lewd wet sounding slaps as they met over and over again untill neither of them could hold on for a single second more and with a roar that shook the very earth on which they coupled their climaxed as one.

Ack stroked her dreadlocks playing with her little charms as he stroked the sensitive rubbery tubes on her head as she clung to him, her head was nestled on his bare sweat soaked chest and she was raking her dull claws across his tanned white flesh watching white lines appear and fade with every stoke, "By the goddess above I love you Ack" she said softly nipping his chest gently with her mandibles.

"As I love you my heart's huntress, there is nothing in this life or the next that I wouldn't do to prove that to you" Ack said softly as his fingers raked through her dreadlocks sending little shivers along her skull.

"My Ack you never have to prove you love for me, you already do so in very action you take, to me its as clear as day and i want you to feel the same in mine, because I would kill this entire universe with my bare hands if I thought it would make you smile if only but for a second, you are the father of my cubs and the bearer of my soul, when i first saw you on that planet all those years ago i did not know what to make of you, all I'd ever been taught were that oomans were a weak prey species, but then I saw you take down one of the very creatures that we just took down together on your own, a creature that i myself was worried to hunt alone, at that moment I knew you were special, but i never suspected that you were meant for me, but in only the few days that I knew you then you showed me more respect than I'd felt ina life time, you honored me in ways I'd never believed possible and you alone showed me the truth of love, that it doesn't wear the face you expect it to, it wears a face that only your heart knows, now here we are with our very own Clan and a beautiful family and I know a joy that I never dare to dream possible, all because i found myself a beautiful ooman Dream Warrior on a far away planet and hunted him" Tik said.

Ack looked up at her and right into her eye and she watched at what looked like two little galaxies swirled in those beautiful blue orbs, "And I am the happiest trophy in existence, when I call you my hearts star i mean it Tik, you guide me and you ground me, without you I'd be a lost soul or a trophy hanging on a Bad Bloods ship, you gave me the strength to become who I was meant to be, without you i am nothing but a lost soul adrift in the vast emptiness of space, but all i ever have to so is look at your beautiful face an I exactly know what to do, you guide me like the North Star of Earth guides sailors to this very day, my hearts brightest star" he said and for one of the very few times in her life Tik felt tears begin to sting her eyes, her Ack felt it just as she did and his protective comforting arms wrapped her and protected her, with him here she could show this side of her because with him there was no judgement, she didn't always have to be Tik eleth the breaker of chains, legendary huntress, with him, she was just Tik, woman loved.

Eventually the pair of them walked back through the jungle both as naked as the day they were born as they had kinda destroyed their hunting clothes in the heat of their passion, but fortunetly they'd left their armor behind and it was waiting right where they'd left it, once dressed they walked back together hand in hand, Tik was looking forwards to adding the two tusks she was carrying to her collection, they took a short cut back through the huge park and both of them turned as they heard yelling and screaming, they instincts and reflexes reacting both in perfect unison, both went for their weapons and readied themselves, right up untill they saw a little Yautja girl running away with a young ooman boy over her shoulder and another three Yautja girls in hot pursuit.

"No fair Lexxie! It's my turn to play huntress!!" one of the girls in hot pursuit yelled as the girl called Lexxie tried to make her escape with the rather confused looking ooman boy on her shoulder and both Tik and Ack relaxed and chuckled together.

"Goddess they start young around here" Ack chuckled and Tik grinned at him.

"Never underestimate the power of the Yautja heart my love" she said proudly as they watched the girl finally get cornered and then the three others dove on her wrestling the surprised ooman boy from her and another making a break for it carrying him.

Tik stepped infront of them and the group screeched to a halt and looked up her with their mandibles wide in shock and awe, "Y-Y-Yur the Grand Matriach!" the girl carrying the boy stammered.

"Yes I am, now put that ooman boy down" she said and the girl did so at once, Tik moved over and knelt down next to the young boy and placed a huge hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her with wide green eyes, she instantly saw why they were chasing him, he was going to grow into quite the Yautja heart breaker.

"Are you ok?" she asked and he nodded.

"Y-Y-Yes Grand Matriach, we were just playing" he stammered and she nodded.

She nodded and looked up at the girls, "I know that you want to play ooman huntress trust me its something I can fully understand having the most beautiful of oomans at my side myself, but you must always and i mean always respect your ooman, they will only be your greatest treasure and brightest trophy if you utterly respect them and treat them right, so only ever do something with their permission and never ever mistreat them because this Clan never tolerates ooman abusers, you maybe bigger and you maybe stronger, but no one loves harder than them and if you want that then you have to earn it, understand?" she said sternly but also proudly.

All of the girls nodded in unison, "Yes Grand Matriach" they said in unison and Tik nodded proudly and happily.

"Good now of you go and play" she said and already the ooman boy was up and running before the girls mandibles fell open and they shot off in chase while Ack roared with laughter, "Nothing scarier than momma bear Tik eleth" he said grinning and Tik swept him up in her arms and kissed him not caring a single shit who saw.

"Come on my love before i chase you around the park" she said patting his rear through his armor and then taking his hand in hers.

"Promises promises" Ack said leading the way back to their house.

But before they even managed to get through the door their comms started going crazy and instantly they were both on alert, Ack answered his first, while Tik did her a second later, "Go ahead" she said.

"Grand Matriach we have received a relayed message through our fleet net, the Serpentinus have relayed to us a distress call from the Raptorians, the Scalathor have launched a full scale invasion of their planet!" the young sounding voice of the intelligence officer on the line said and Tik's eyes met Ack's.

"Looks like we're going to war my love" Ack said and with that the pair of them turned on their heels and ran towards the intelligence office.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Call to War.

Jack and Tik burst into the intelligence centre which was a bunker-like building staffed by all of the military arms of Clan Mason, it was staffed by a mixture of intelligence specialists sand analysts as well as SIGINTS or signals intelligence operatives whose job was to constantly scan the airwaves collecting intelligence before decrypting it and passing it to who needed it while maintaining contact with all active Clan Mason battle groups.

They found Seeker Silver Dimondscale and his pack sat there hovering over an intelligence operative's shoulder, they all wore the same angered, worried expression on their faces, including the tall male Praetorian intelligence operative, Jack knew him from Aine and Murphy's hive, he was a Savior called W'Xen.

"Report," Jack said in his authoritative voice which made the whole room snap to attention as he and Tik approached both striding across the room side by side, even Celia and her pack seemed to snap to attention.

W'Xen turned his large crested head towards Jack and Jack instantly noticed that his Yautja mate had been hard at work once again, the pair were a well-known couple around the clan but then they were the only male Yautja and a male Praetorian couple around so it wasn't that hard to stand out walking hand in hand through the city, but just like any other couple they were fully accepted as bigotry simply was not a thing here, all were accepted and defended equally.

But W'Xen's husband was, despite being a Hunter, quite the budding artist who seemed to take great joy in decorating his husband's head crest with little hunting trophies much like Tik's dread charms, he also liked to draw little symbols on his husband's crest, two that caught Jack's eye said 'Gorgeous Male' and 'Beloved' in Yautja and drawn in a bright pink ink towards the rear of his crest, it just made Jack smile for some reason.

But despite his fabulous get up W'Xen was as professional as you could get, the man knew his job inside out and was fucking good at it, "We've received a long-distance relay call from the fleet Stationed at the Serpentinus homeworld, the Serpentinus received a distress call from the Raptorian homeworld, a large combined Scalathor and Draconis fleet have shown up attacked and disabled their defences and their fleet and launched a full-scale invasion of their planet, that's all they were able to get out before the Scalathor and Draconis jammed their comms" W'Xen said.

Jack looked at Tik and he could tell by the scowl on her face she was fuming, "Any idea on numbers?" she asked her voice as dark as night.

W'Xen shook his large head making the little charms tacked onto the outer ridge of his head crest sway and jingle, "No Grand Matriarch and we are dealing with a fair time delay in transmission time here so we also have no idea on what the status of the Raptorians is as of current either" he said looking up at her before gesturing to his holo screen.

"By my estimation, this must-have just as we were leaving Serpentinus space so they already have a good headstart on us and possibly a dug in foothold on their planet, though we don't know anything about their defences," W'Xen said.

Jack looked at Tik and she clicked thoughtfully, "Contact the Serpentinus via the fleet and tell them that we are on our way to assist, put out an all stations call that I want all available Hunter, Seeker, Savior and Battle Angels on station and to report to the Dreamer, looks like we're going to war" Jack said firmly and W'Xen nodded and immediately began calling into his comms as jack turned to Tik.

"I get the feeling we're really going to have to quite a fight on our hands here my love," he said and Tik nodded thoughtfully as the pair began to stride through the intelligence centre which had gone utterly crazy as calls were being placed to all units to get their tails to the Dreamer or any of the other available ships, their fleet might not bee large but it was seriously powerful, designed to punch above its weight to make up for their lack of numbers.

"I"ll contact Citrus hive, something tells me we might need the Dreadnaught much sooner than we believed, this is escalating very quickly," she said a note of concern in her voice and Jack saw what was worrying her and placed a reassuring hand on her broad, muscled shoulder.

"Don't you worry my love they would have to be truly idiotic to attack this place, a planet full of Xeno's, hunters and humans all ready to defend this place with their dying breath, they'd be literally running back up their loading ramps the second they set foot on our beloved soil the second they sat what was waiting for them, no one fucks with Clan Mason and lives to tell about it" he said proudly and he could see that cheered her up and her back straightened and her chest puffed out, "There my proud huntress, now what do you say we go and kick the ever-living fuck out of some sexist bigots?" he said and Tik drew her mandibles up into a dark smile.

"Love to my heart's star, lead the way," she said and the pair headed to the shuttle bay.

As they pulled into the Dreamer's shuttle bay they saw a stream of Hunters, Seekers and all the others streaming in from the station, it included Liam who had obviously caught a shuttle up from the intelligence centre after leaving the majority of his pack behind, though Jack noticed Celia was with him and she looked very concerned and was sticking close to Liam, but Jack could instantly see Liam's line of thinking bringing her along as she was an ambassador and belonged to a species that the Raptorians knew and trusted, so only smart to bring her along to facilitate the introduction, but he had obviously left the rest of his pack back at home.

Jack and Tik made their way to the bridge of the Dreamer where they were shortly joined by both Liam and Celia not to mention Ryan and Shena, Sela eleth would be remaining behind this time to run the Clan in their absence, all of the bridge crew snapped to attention as Liam's crisp voice rang out, "Grand Patriarch and Matriarch on deck!!" he yelled, if he wasn't a Seeker he'd make one hell of a drill sergeant.

"At ease everyone, ok here's the score, the Raptorian homeworld has been invaded by both the Scalathor and the Draconis and they have called to their allies for aid, now the Serpentinus are in no shape to respond, so we will stand for them, this is likely to be a full-scale conflict so I want everybody with their game faces on, we're going to show both the Scalathor and Draconis what happens to those who fuck with the friends of Clan Mason," Jack said and the whole bridge crew roared with pride, Jack turned to Tik and she nodded and stepped forwards taking the reigns.

"Once all personnel are loaded signal the fleet and set a course for the Raptorian homeworld," she said and there was a flurry of salutes and everyone took their stations.

During the series of hyperspace jumps the Dreamer dropped relay satellites in the systems they passed through, now Clan Mason's comms satellites are equipped with a version of Yautja cloaking tech in order to make them next to impossible to detect, but just like any other tech of this nature there was always vulnerability though in Jack's opinion anyone smart enough to crack through the encryption codes that come out of Citrus and Yoshi's hive considering they used a programming language that used a combination of Yautja, Human and Xeno languages then they could fucking keep it, it would self destruct as soon as it detected an intrusion anyway.

Now the only ship in the Clan Mason fleet that didn't have full stealth capabilities as it had been launched ahead of time, it had both radar and thermal protection which made it invisible to sensors but visual sensors would pick it up and a heavy cruiser wasn't exactly easy to hide, it was a mistake that Yoshi's hive had not repeated with the Dreadnaught as the cloaking generators had been one of the first things they had installed once the hull was complete, but they did have Xeno engineers from the hive on board working to fix the problem being aided by Savior engineers.

This would become prudent as they jumped into the system that contained the Raptorian homeworld and instantly realized that they were seriously outgunned, it seemed that the Scalathor had also learned from their encounter with Clan Mason, this time they'd come out in force, serious force.

"Grand Patriarch and Matriarch I'm picking up multiple signatures, there has to be at least twenty cruisers out there!" their armoury officer exclaimed.

"Engage stealth mode and put us into orbit behind the nearest moon, make sure you keep it between us and them," Jack said quickly and the orders were quickly relayed to the fleet, the Yautja ships in the fleet were not cruiser class in fact they were roughly the size of a heavy torpedo boat, designed to hit hard and get out quick, but even with six of them in tow and the two regular cruisers they didn't have the firepower to deal with a threat this size, a full head-on conflict was not a smart idea because as powerful as the Dreamer was she wasn't invincible, taking them head-on would be suicide and both Jack and Tik knew it.

Jack felt the weight of the bridge crews expectant looks, he was the Grand Patriarch and a Dream Warrior to boot, they all expected him to know exactly what to do, but it Tik that stepped forwards placing her huge hand on his shoulder as she did, her eyes were bright and her body language spoke volumes, she was cool, confident and in control, Grand Matriach Tik was in the house.

"It's obvious that we have struck the fear of Paya into their hearts! And this is good that means they are both scared of us and respect us but no matter if we are outgunned or not we are still going to kick them right in the scaly cunts with a Clan sized golden boot!" she roared so loudly and proudly that Jack swore everyone on the ship could hear her without the comms.

There were growls of agreement, "Now we cannot beat them with brute force as we are outgunned so we will instead defeat them with superior tactics and intelligence, every person on this bridge is a full-blooded hunter and we have all taken down a prey far bigger and more dangerous than they are, smarts win the day, so listen up here's the plan......." Ti said and she began to outline her frankly brilliant idea and a smile crept onto Jack's face and righteous fury slid into his heart.

Tik's plan was surprisingly simple, elegant and fucking fiendish in its simplicity, it made use of their current strength in stealth over their massive weakness in firepower, all of the torpedo boats, shuttles and armour they had had cloaking tech, a ground assault team would sneak through their blockade riding in a torpedo boat where it would be discharged out of sight in the shuttles, they would proceed down to the surface and attempt to make contact with the Raptorian defenders while reporting the troop strengths and locations of Scalathor and Draconis troop formations, they would then act as guerrilla troops assisting the Raptorians by gathering intel and using hit and run tactics to weaken the Scalathor as it was amazing what a handful of angry Yautja and Xenos appearing out of the jungle and hitting you before vanishing into thin air would do to morale, not to mention Dream Warriors.

Meanwhile, a couple of their cloaked ships would slip into the Scalathor and Draconis blockade and identify weaknesses in it, Tik would then lead a host of assault teams to board the unsuspecting cruisers and turn them on their former owners seeding chaos among their ranks while also making off with their ships before finally unleashing the full might of the Clan's fleet onto them.

"Sounds like a plan my love let's do it," Jack said before Tik grinned at him and pulled him into a tight and deep kiss.

"Go make us some new friends my love lets show these pauk's what happens when you pauk with friends of Clan Mason," she said growled deeply and darkly.

Jack nodded and with one last kiss, he broke from her, "Seekers on me" he said and with a parting kiss to his beloved one Liam fell in step with him, Ryan too but he didn't have to kiss his beloved one goodbye, Shena was coming with him.

As they passed through the ship the call had gone up so Seekers and Hunters started to appear out of side walkways and fell in step as the ever-growing group made it's way first to the armoury before on to the shuttle bay, once there Jack briefed the gathered group.

"Alright people listen up, we're going up against a far larger and well-supported force, the odds are not in our favour here so it's up to us to turn things to favour us, we are going to need to use every one of those skills you've been taught, this is exactly what they taught me to do in the SAS, to take on a much larger force and to disrupt and defeat them through superior tactics, so sabotage, hit and run tactics and guerrilla warfare are going to be the order of the day, we are not going to be grouped together as one large force as it will defeat the objective of what we are trying to do, so here's how it's going to be split, one Seeker, one Hunter and One Battle Angel team will form a team, this will form six teams of twelve, each team will be codenamed by metals, I will take Gold, Ryan you are Silver, Liam Bronze, Analise Copper, Rem Iron, Levat Steel, organise the numbers yourselves," Jack said.

He was met with looks of astonishments as most of these Seekers were used to being members of other teams not leading their own but they took severe pride in Jack's trust in them, each of these senior Seekers would be assigned three junior Seekers to make up their teams, Jack assigned the Hunter teams to the Seeker teams as well as the Battle Angel teams, each team was made up of four making a total team strength of twelve, which was the size of a large special forces infiltration team.

"We have to assume that the jamming signal that's preventing the Raptorians from communicating with anyone is going to affect our comms as well, this is going to mean that each team is going to have to work independent and in the dark, we will be taking comm relays with us to set up to hopefully restore some form of local comms, each of the Hunter teams has an electronic warfare expert and it will be their jobs to try and cut through the jamming and also the enemy encryption, but bear in mind once each group touches down you will be on your own, this is going to be a an stealth orbital drop without a pod as we don;t want to leave anything to trace back to our presence until we are ready for them to know we are here, but out first priority will be to make contact with the Raptorians and to help them how ever we can, so that is our first order of business, from what we know they live in underground cities due to highly aggressive fauna so while on the surface be on your guard and look for caves which could be an entrance to the underground though be warned they are likely to be heavily defended, so stealth protocalls until you are safely inside" Jack said which caused a bit of discussion among the gathered members.

"Alright people and the last thing I should mention, as always while you are on the ground there you are representing Clan Mason, you are there to assist and aid these people, render any aid you can especially to civilians, we want to make the best possible impression on them, with regards to the enemy rules of engagement are simple, you are weapons free but be smart about it, I seriously don't recommend running guns blazing towards an armour division, but sneaking into their camp and placing charges on their vehicles and turning them into scrap is always a good idea, any questions?" Jack finished looking around expectantly but heads were being shaken and he smiled.

"Good that's what I like to see, alright people gear up for a week on the ground and let's load up," Jack said and everyone saluted and fell out to pick up their gear from the quartermaster that they'd need outside of their own personal gear which they kept in their lockers and were all already carrying.

The shuttle ride over to the Yautja torpedo boat Patriach's Pride was only a short one and the teams didn't bother to disembark from their drop shuttles, they weren't taking the pods down as they didn't want any evidence of their drop to be present so it would be an orbital drop to wingsuit drop with each team dropping into a different area on the rough map that they had from their long-range sensors, another thing that they would be doing would be mapping the place as well so when they broke through the jamming they could share their data.

The Patriach's Pride was using its stealth drive and advanced Yautja cloaking to slip right through the blockade, they could already see evidence of both the Raptorian defence platforms and ships that had been destroyed by the Scalathor and Draconis forces floating in orbit, lots of pieces of debris were being pulled out of orbit and into the planet's atmosphere where they were burning up on reentry which pleased Jack as it would make their entry trails utterly unnoticed as it was happening so often it looked like a mini meteor shower, but it did bring him a great deal of sadness when he thought of how many of those trails probably belonged to the innocent Raptorian crews who were simply defending their home.

After what felt like an age during which Jack felt like a submariner silently slipping past the much larger ships sailing on the sea of black, once they were close enough the shuttles silently slipped out of the bays and the Patriach's Pride held position ready to pick up the returning shuttles before heading back to the Dreamer's side, it was go time.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Alright people on your feet its time, check yourself then your partner I don't want a single problem on the way down, I want this smooth and flawless," Seeker Silver Dimondscale said standing up and checking his blue powered Seeker armour, Smoke felt his heart rate starting to spike abit and his chest clenched tight as he stood up and checked down his bright golden Hunter armour, he'd never felt claustrophobic in these power suits before but suddenly everything felt like it was closing in on him and he started feeling like he was going to hyperventilate.

Serval a huge Yautja male and Seeker Tamer seemed to notice and he turned to look at him, he reached out and placed a huge hand on Smoke's shoulder and he looked up, "Chin up kid, you're a full-blooded Hunter now, keep your chin up and you'll do fine, just trust in your brothers and sisters, ok?" he said in a very deep voice and suddenly Smoke felt a warm glow rising up in his chest and his fear eased allowing him to breathe.

This was Smoke's first deployment since passing out of training and gaining his full-blooded status, he had been so proud the day that the Grand Matriarch had burned the symbol into his skin to elevate him to full-blooded status, Smoke was actually his nickname as his real name was Peter Samson, but everyone called him Smoke because of his ice-white hair and bright grey eyes that according to absolutely everyone looked like he had eyes filled with smoke, though no matter how many times he looked into the mirror he never saw it himself, but the name had stuck and now it had gotten t the point where both his parents and even his two elder sisters both in the Saviors as engineers called him Smoke.

He was the grand old age of nineteen years old and fresh out of the academy after passing his Hunter training and then training as an Electronic Warfare expert or operative if you would, his Hunter team had been picked by Seeker Silver Dimondscale for Bronze team for this operation and he'd felt a rush of both pride, excitement and fear all rolled into one, serving under such a powerful Seeker was such an honour and a privilege when he'd first seen a Dream Warrior and what they could do it had taken his breath away, but here he was now a Hunter in his own right and he'd been assigned to Hunter team six once he'd been passed out of EW school under Sargent Yalek.

Speaking of which he felt another huge hand on his shoulder and he was spun around on the spot, "Don't you worry corporal, you'll do fine we'll make sure we bring that pretty ooman arse of yours back in one piece and I'm sure you'll do our Grand Matriarch proud, just remember your training and pay attention, no running off on your own and playing rogue hunter understood?" Yalek a truly massive Yautja female who was in charge of Hunter team six said in her deep gravely voice.

"Y-Yes Sargent" Smoke said somewhat nervously as Yalek checked his armour and gear over before patting him on the side of his helmet where his cheek would have been and giving him a thumbs up.

"Twenty seconds! I want a nice tight formation you know your place in it, stick to it and watch your lines, don't cut over one another" Seeker Dimondscale said heading to the tail ramp and they all engaged their magnetic boots as the atmosphere vented and the tail ramp opened, the greenness of the planet and blackness of space contrasted each other so beautifully, "We will lose comms the moment we are outside of the ship so remember your signs, ok here we go!" Seeker Dimondscale said and with that, he launched himself out of the hatch followed by the other Seekers and that's when Yalek shoved him forwards and out the door.

Smoke's stomach lurched as suddenly gravity didn't exist for him any more, he began to spin like he was doing a lazy somersault, his HUD flickered into life and began to tell him he was off the preprogrammed flight path which appeared like red lines in his HUD, Smoke was always amazed by the utter silence of space, it was like it penetrated your very soul-sucking out every drop of noise from your head.

He straightened out the thrusters in his suit allowed him to stall his spin and correct his line which changed first to yellow as he got closer and then to green once he was inside them, all around him the others were doing the same and they were forming up into a loose arrow shape with Seeker Dimondscale at its tip, Smoke's position was on the far left tip with Zem of the Battle Angels on the far right one, she was kinda hard to miss even in the vastness of space thanks to being one of the only Praetorians in the Battle Angels, her beloved human husband served on the Dreamer as an engineer.

The visor of Smoke's helmet began to glow as they hit the atmosphere and the heat shields deployed to protect him till he was clear of it, he'd only done a couple of these orbital drops and he'd been shitting himself every single time, once they cleared the outer atmosphere they're braking systems engaged and their wings deployed putting them into a diving glide that allowed them to stabilise their flight path until they were able to pull out of it and begin a proper glide, below them a sea of incredibly dense lush green fanned out as far as the eye could see in every direction, it was even thicker than the jungles of home.

"By the Goddess, the Yautja girls are gonna love this place," Smoke said quietly to himself as they began a slight turn following Seeker Dimondscale's lead, suddenly there was a loud screaming noise inside his head as this proximity alarm went crazy and he began looking around to find the source, but before he found it there were loud roars all around them and out of nowhere miniature balls of fire rocketed between them causing Smoke to veer off course as he punched through the thick smoke of one of the trails.

"Holy fucking shit!!!" Smoke yelled truing to duck his head down inside his armour out of instinct, but it wasn't over yet there were more of the debris missiles and all of the team were dancing about all over the sky as they tried to avoid the storm of micro meteors made from the debris of the destroyed Raptorian ships, they'd picked this area deliberately because a lot of debris had been falling so that they're entry wouldn't be noticed, but obviously, that came with a high degree of risk, now he knew why.

Just like all the members of his team Smoke had activated his cloaking the moment that his wings had deployed to make them a lot harder to spot from the ground, but this also meant that their ballistics shielding was deactivated due to the power drain on their energy cells, it was one or the other so when the small high-speed shrapnel hit the centre of Smoke's left-wing about three quarter's of the way of the wing there was nothing to absorb the force.

The wing sheered off like it had been cut with a blade, "Fuck!!" Smoke screamed as suddenly his glide turned into a free fall, Smoke's mind went into full-on panic mode as his world began to spin and became a flicking image of green, blue, green, blue, green, blue steadily getting faster and faster as his remaining wing turned him into a sycamore seed.

Out of nowhere a voice spoke to Smoke, somewhere in the back of his mind, "You have to focus, you have to fix this Smoke, you can do it, keep clam and fix it" it said like warm silk inside his mind, it was like the voice pushed the fear out of his mind if only for the briefest of moments, but at that moment he knew what he had to do.

"Retract wings!!" Smoke yelled and the remaining wing shot back into the holder on his back, firing the thrusters in the suit to correct the spin, the ground was getting a whole lot bigger a whole lot faster now, with a pull Liam deployed the wingsuit part of his suit and it was like a giant hand reached up and grabbed him pulling him upwards and threw him like a fucking dart as the downwards vertical momentum was transferred to horizontal motion, his HUD was utterly screaming blue bloody murder that he was way off course, hell in only a few seconds that this had been transpiring for he'd utterly lost sight of his team and thanks to the jamming going on he couldn't even pick up their beacons.

That's when fate decided to be an even bigger cunt and his proximity alarm began to scream yet again, without even seeing the threat Smoke began to weave back and forth trying to avoid the streaks of fire that whistled and fizzed past him at incredible speed, his sensors were showing so many of them that it was like one big mass on his radar, "Ahh FUCK!!!" Smoke yelled as two about the size of acorns punched holes right his right-wing and set the material on fire for a brief second before the fire-resistant material extinguished itself, but those holes were more than enough to throw his stability to hell and once again he began to spin.

Another hit this time in the web between his legs and now Smoke knew he had no chance of holding it and his altimeter was getting dangerously close to sea level, or in this case big hard fucking tree level, "Jettison glide wings and deploy emergency chute on my mark.............MARK!!" Smoke yelled.

The glide pack anchored to his back jettisoned from his back and flew upwards before exploding like a firework as the self destruct initiated sending yet more flaming debris in all directions but this time well away from him, two seconds later the emergency parachute that was part of the rig deployed and once again that invisible hand was back only this time it felt like it was stopping him dead and trying to squeeze his stomach out through his arsehole.

The chute itself was clear so that it could be used by a cloaked operative without drawing attention, it was made from a super light and strong polymer and it deployed just in time to break his speed before he went crashing into the branches of the incredibly big trees and while he could feel the branches that were whipping him he felt the impacts of them against his armour while he bounced around inside it like a pea in a tin can.

Noises began to swim lazily through the blackness in Smoke's head, it sounded like birds chirping along with an odd buzzing and bleeping noise, that's when a voice cut through the cascade of sounds leaking into the darkness, "User condition stabilised, deploying emergency protocols" it said and that's when the lightning came.

Every muscle in Smoke's body felt like it was on fire all at the same time, he snapped back into consciousness with an explosive rush of breath and a yell, "User vitals stabilised, consciousness restored, emergency protocols cancelled, beginning system diagnostics" the strangely comforting female voice said before it began to list stats at him.

"User unconscious for three hours twelve minutes due to blunt force trauma, no complications or concussion detected but recommend user please seek the assistance of the nearest Battle Angel as soon as possible, flight interface destroyed and inoperable, both primary and secondary weapons operational, power supply at 98%, atmospheric seals intact, armour integrity at 100%," the voice said in its calming tone and Smoke shook his head to clear any remaining fog from it and that's when he realized the ground felt odd like it wasn't there and he made the mistake of looking down.

"Ahh fucking great! I'm stuck in a fucking tree! Goddess above! Some pauking Hunter I am, if the Grand Matriarch saw me now she'd laugh her pauking chiselled ass off" Smoke grumbled to himself as he swung helplessly from his parachute harness which was caught in the branches of the tree that had caught his fall and now he was dangling like a freedom day decoration from it.

"Ok Smoke you can do this, it's just like any other logic problem, there's always a solution you just have to see it," he said twisting and turning in the harness to look around himself, that's when he saw the branch about ten feet from him and it hit him, so slowly he began to swing back and forth, back and forth stretching out his hands like a toddler learning to walk and reaching for its Matriach, when he got close enough he reached out and slammed both of his wrist blades into it which as it happens was very well timed because above him there was a loud crack.

The branch that had been supporting his weight shot past him with the remnants of his parachute tangled around it and Smoke barely had enough time to cut the lines before it would have dragged him off the tree, "Fuck that was close" Smoke breathed as he looked down at the fallen branch still wrapped in his parachute, straining against gravity Smoke hauled himself up onto the branch and hooked his capped toes onto the bark, it was just as well that all Hunters were just as at home in trees as they were on the ground, it was something their Grand Matriach insisted on teaching them and suddenly Smoke was very glad that she did.

Once his heart rate slowed enough to the point where it didn't feel like it was tapping against the inside of his armour looking for a way out, then slowly he balanced himself before walking along the branch and shinned his way down the trunk to ground level and only now did it hit him, he didn't have a clue where he was but where his team was either, he was so far behind enemy lines that there were no lines and with the comms blackout his team had no way of finding him, nor did they have any way of knowing if he was alive, now he knew that they were as much Clan Mason as he was and they would look for him and not give up they found him, but in a jungle, this big with no way to communicate even as good as hunters as the Yautja were it would take weeks, maybe even months before they found him, for now, he was on his own.

Smoke pulled his weapon free from its harness utterly amazed that it was still with him, his shoulder-mounted casters were still in one piece as well, as was the ECM and Electronic Warfare Kit strapped to his lower back, so then that left his choice of actions as clear, he would hunt for his team but as he did he would try his best to carry out his mission, he would attempt to find a way to crack through the jamming and reestablish contact with either the Clan itself or his team whichever came first, while at the same time he would look for a way to try and locate both the enemy and the Raptorians and as frightened as he was he would remember he was a proud member of Clan Mason and of Tik eleth Mason's Hunters and he would make his Clan and his Grand Matriarch proud of him.

Sweeping around him Smoke saw nothing so he deactivated his cloak and put his back to the tree before sitting down on the jungle floor between the leaf litter and the curious insects which he wasn't worried about as they had no way into his utterly sealed suit, so even the huge black twelve legged spider-like creature that was the size of a Yautja dinner plate that seemed to be watching him curiously from the trunk of a nearby tree didn't worry him that much as he knew this armour could survive a direct hit from a railgun without its shields so a spider as butt ugly as the fucker was, was no worry for him, without it he'd have been back up in the tree again as soon as he'd set eyes on the fucking thing.

He took his tool kit from his belt and opened it in his lap, it was full of a verity of miniaturized tools specialized to his trade and one of those tools that kinda like a little handheld pop up satellite that had a little tripod for it to stand on, when hooked up to his armour it became a frequency scanner and direction finder, it could detect an incredible range of radio frequencies and it measured the strength as it scanned around to give a likely direction for the source, as he hooked it up the little satellite whirred to life and began moving around on its own as it tried to find a frequency to lock onto, it began displaying active frequencies on Smoke's HUD.

Instantly Smoke could see that a broad spectrum transmitter was being used to broadcast static across all frequencies making them unusable, but this scanner allowed Smoke to scan his surroundings and to see in which direction the source of the jamming and interference was coming from by seeing in which direction the signal was strongest, which would hopefully lead him to the source.

It took a couple of minutes to locate the direction in which the signal was strongest, but once it was zeroed in Smoke locked in the direction to his HUD so he didn't get lost following the course, even in the jungles of home it was so easy to get turned around and lost if you were not careful, the Yautja were utter masters of jungle navigation and their Grand Matriarch took great pains to ensure every single one of her Hunters even with no tools could navigate their way through a jungle using things like rivers and various landmarking methods, but thankfully for Smoke all he had to do was follow the glowing marker on his HUD which he'd tagged to the rough distance and direction of this signal being broadcast across the planet.

Once he had a direction in which to head Smoke packed up his gear again and activated his low light enhancement which was a low power version of the night vision his suit was equipped with, it made use of the ambient light and enhanced it but unlike full night vision it wouldn't blind you or overload if you encountered a light source, this was taken directly from a Yautja hunting mask as they had a lot of visual spectrum's available to allow you to see no matter the circumstance.

The Hunter armour had a helmet that was shaped like it's wear's head with a metal faceplate and the Yautja version looked remarkably like a Yautja hunting mask except for a version that fully sealed their head and dreads inside it as well.

A sudden high pitched chittering noise made Smoke spin around on the spot pulling his weapon into the shoulder and grip it tightly as he cycled through his visual options switching to thermal but other than a small smattering of little hot splodges in the canopy which was most likely a few birds, he felt his heart hammering against his chest plate again as the noise most certainly did not sound like birds, more like teeth being clicked together rapidly.

Smoke reactivated his cloaking systems and with a few last nervous glances around himself into the gloom which now had a green tinge as his enhanced vision was lighting it up, but with nothing jumping out at him he took a final breath and steeled his nerves before setting off following the marker.

Despite being a Hunter, Smoke was very much an indoor kind of boy, being an Electronic Warefare expert most of his job involved sitting at a computer and breaking codes, or coming up with new uses for the incredibly complicated tools that flowed out of Yoshi and Citrus's hive across his desk, none of that generally involved dragging your arse through hot dirty jungles, which was a point that was hammered home to him as for the fifth time in an hour he tripped over a hidden tree root that was like a living tripwire hidden in the leaf litter of the jungle floor, but unlike one of the ever graceful Seekers or the vast majority of his gold suited Hunter brethren, Smoke didn't perform a graceful recovery and land on his feet with a show of acrobatic prowess, he simply face planted into the leaf litter sending a spray of mud and leaf fragments in all directions with a dull thump.

Swearing to himself in three different languages Smoke went to pick himself from the leaf litter he heard something that made him freeze solid, voices were drifting lazily through the haze of the jungle and they most definitely were not Clan voices.

As panic began to cloud his thought and his heart began to bang against his chest plates Smoke very slowly lifted his head and instantly movement caught his eye between the trees ahead, he froze solid and simply watched as slowly a group of figures began to move into view and he instantly recognised the shape of Scalathor soldiers, he'd seen the helmet cam footage from the attack on the Serpentinus homeworld so he knew what to do and what their tactics would be, it had been shared among all the military wings of the Clan.

They were moving slowly towards him and he barely had enough time to move to cover against the trunk of a large tree and combined with his cloak he blended right in with the bark as they drew alongside him, there were about twenty of them, by the shape of them obviously all females.

"Why the hell are we working with the fucking Draconis! Why has the Dark Seed placed any faith in those winged idiots? We should have conquered them first!" he heard one soldier hiss to her companion nearby.

"Who knows? All I know is you don't want to be throwing around statements like that anywhere near those fucking Nightmare Assassins, they'll kill you where you stand, skin you and stick outside the base with a pole up your cunt before you even know you're fucking dead, so I'd keep that kind of shit to yourself" her companion hissed back.

The Scalathor soldiers were dressed in skin-tight black combat stealth suits that made them difficult to see in the shadows of the jungle trees and foliage, they were covered in pouches containing chat looked like canisters and each was wearing a backpack with obviously a few days worth of supplies, they all seemed to be armed with some kind of plasma projection weapon by all the bulbous canisters attached to them.

The first Scalathor snorted and nodded, "Yeah those girls are fucking scary, one of them looked at me the other day and I swear it felt like my blood turned to ice, felt like she was looking through my soul like it was a fucking filing cabinet, but the lucky bitches get the pick of the fucking males, saw one of them dragging four of the comfort males off to her quarters the other night, if any of us tried that we'd get fucking flogged, hell we're lucky if we get to brush against them as they walk fucking passed" she said grumpily.

"Ain't that the truth but it ain't our place to question them, they're the voices of the Dark Seed and I've seen enough of what that thing can do and its enough to know that I don't ever want to be on its bad side, remember what happened to that town up in the northern territory where all the girls refused to acknowledge the right of the Dark Seed to rule, the one where they stuck to the teachings of the so-called Great Tree?" the second one said causing the first one to visibly shivered in disgust and the second one nodded knowingly.

"Yeah that was just two Nightmare Assassins, fifty thousand civilians gone, just like that, like a living bomb went off, males and children as well, not a soul left standing just a pile of skinned corpses, they said you could see the pile and smell the burning scales for hundreds of miles around," she said snapping her fingers just for emphasis of how quick they had all died and with that, the team drew out of earshot but that little impromptu eavesdropping session had revealed a rather interesting nugget of intel, it appeared that essentially the Dark Seed was ruling the Scalathor and the Draconis through force, like a dictator exterminating their own people for daring to speak out against them, but also that there seemed to be pockets of resistance, this could be useful information for his Grand Patriarch and Matriarch.

But once the threat was passed Smoke blew out the breath he'd been holding and detached himself from the tree that he'd been hugging like an over amorous Praetorian, with one last look in the direction of the soldiers he made a not on his digital map where he'd seen them and what direction they were going in along with their number before he carried on his journey through the jungle, but it wasn't long before he reached something that stopped him dead in his tracks and a realisation hit him like a cold hard slap, he next to no chance of getting anywhere near the signal's source.

Smoke crouched down on the large rocky outcrop that overlooked the dense jungle below him and all around him and what he saw before he made his mouth simply drop open, in the distance, there was a large clearing that seemed to have branches running out from it in all directions that were most likely rivers that ran like veins through the jungle around it leading to this clearing like it was a giant heart feeding life to all the green around it, but it what was in this absolutely massive clearing that caught his attention.

Sat smack in the centre of this clearing was what appeared to a huge FOB or Forward Operating Base, it looked like some sort of pop up base sat on huge stilts, a large metallic square that stuck out from the landscape like a sore thumb, at each corner of it was a large heavily armed guard towers, which he deduced from the multitude of what appeared to be gun barrels sticking out from them like spikes, connecting those guard towers were twenty-foot high wall segments made from solid metal panels, they looked like they had been slotted into place most likely with a shuttle of some kind, like giant slats into a box frame.

Sat directly at the centre of this pop-up brace was a huge antenna that was covered in small satellite dishes and whip aerials pointing in all directions, this synced up with his HUD marker telling him that this was indeed the source of the jamming frequency that he was hunting, but the problem was what was surrounding it, because not only was it surrounded by the twenty-foot plus high walls and the guard towers, but parked all around the place with buildings dotted about in-between them were what appeared to be tanks, lots and lots of tanks. 

They were lined up in lots of little squares of eight, there had to be at least two hundred of them, the place appeared to be the temporary home to an entire armoured division and that was before he took into count the sheer amount of soldiers that would be stationed there, in short, there was no fucking way he was getting in there alone even with his cloaking tech, the confines were too close quarters, it would only take one person to bump him as he made his way through and he'd be toast armour or no armour, this was going to need some very creative planning.

"Ahh for fuck sake this just got a lot harder, why couldn't it have just been a big arsed satellite dish just sat on a rock somewhere with no guards?" Smoke said forlornly to himself sitting himself down on the grassy clifftop looking out over the base, he was going to need some serious help here and a serious plan to go with it, so Smoke decided to do what he did best, think.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Jungle Fever.

Smoke sat on the rocky outcrop and watched the forward operating base, he was taking notes and recording what he saw, if they didn't know already the Clan was going to need useable intel, troop deployments, strengths, numbers, everything they could learn.

As he watched he saw tanks rolling in and out of the base and from what his mask's zoom could show him the tanks coming back in had some serious battle damage, scoring and huge holes all over their thick armour, this made him smile because it meant that where ever they were hiding the Raptorians were putting up a fight.

They seemed to have two very different models of main battle tank on the field here, one type had a smaller main gun but seemed to be fitted with some kind of anti-gravity technology that caused it to sit floating on a set of blue glowing coils hidden beneath skirts of armour and he only knew about those because he could see them reflecting on the water as they floated over it.

The other type was much heavier, it seemed to be part bulldozer part tank, it sat on quadruple tracks that dug huge furrows in the soil and undergrowth, on the front of the tanks was a huge ram scoop like the snow ploughs they used at home when it snowed in winter, only much bigger.

Above it sat a huge turret covered in what looked like small tubes which must be launchers for things like grenades and smoke, not to mention smaller calibre weapons to defend against infantry getting close, the main gun unlike that of it's floating brother it was telescopically designed to be retracted behind the scoop so that it didn't get damaged in transit, but this would also be useful for absorbing the recoil of firing the large bore weapon.

The antigrav version seemed to have some seriously powerful generators mounted in the back of them as his thermal vision picked them out like golden beacons even among the trees and foliage, this allowed him to get a much better idea of how many they had moving about in the jungle.

In the FOB itself, he also saw troop carriers shaped like angular ovals and sat on eight huge wheels, with truly massive tyres that had treads like huge triangular grooves that were interlocking to allow it to run over soft surfaces like sand as well as dirt and mud like you found in a jungle, atop them was a small turret that looked to be mounted with a 20mm belt-fed chain cannon, so it appeared that they had ballistic style weapons to go with the plasma small arms they had.

But what had Smoke worried the most was what appeared to be a large battery of artillery located towards the rear of the base, their large bore barrels aiming skywards ready to rain death down on any target that got called into it, he also noticed that it appeared to be a shared base with both Scalathor and Draconis living and working on it, though there was not a sense of togetherness there and while he might not know hardly anything about either of these species other than their seriously backwards attitudes he knew what unity was.

Growing up and living in Clan Mason had taught Smoke what true unity was and looked like, every day he watched three very different species work together as a single organism, like a well-oiled machine with every little part working perfectly and doing its tiny little part to make the whole machine run like clockwork, but looking down there where groups of Scalathor and Draconis stood part from one another, not seemingly willing to interact unless forced to he saw none of that unity, none of that cohesion and with that, he saw an opportunity.

As he watched about a hundred Scalathor soldiers doing various tasks around the base, some working on the damaged vehicles, others fetching and carrying various equipment and some getting ready to go out on patrol, that's when he spotted a group of Draconis about eight strong all geared up in battle armour towards the edge of the base, it looked like they were also getting ready to go out on patrol.

They seemed to be receiving orders of some kind from another Draconis this one dressed in a black uniform while the patrol soldiers were dressed in a kind of light blue which was odd as camo goes, now granted many would say the same about golden Hunter armour but it was only that colour because they had their Yautja cloaking tech, otherwise it would be outfitted for whatever arena of battle they were entering, 

Which was exactly why the Scalathor and Draconis couldn't see the bright sun glinting off golden armour as their silent invisible observer continued to watch them, suddenly the Draconis all saluted the soldier in black who was obviously their commander, with that they all spread their huge wings and one after the other took to the air hovering over the base until they were all in the air.

As he watched the Draconis began to gain height by doing circles around the FOB until they gained enough height and then they set off flying a patrol route over the jungle obviously their job was to act as an organic air support and spotting unit to their troops on the ground and from where he sat Smoke had a very good view of them and their route, they seemed to be following one of the rivers that branched out from where the FOB was located.

Well that was until they had a bit of a run-in with some of the local fauna anyhow, from high above them there was a loud whistling noise like an artillery shell coming in and when Smoke looked up what could only be described as a living aeroplane dove out of the cloud and right into the formation of Draconis.

It had to be thirty feet long beak to tail, it looked like a feathery dinosaur from Earth's history, but with what appeared to be a large armoured beak that seemed to have large hooked teeth obviously for grabbing prey and holding onto them, like the screeching Draconis that it currently had hold of.

Smoke watched in both awe and horror as the huge beast basically shrugged off the plasma bolts they were firing at it and proceeded to shoot overhead at incredible speed as its huge wings propelled it along, it had a long feathered tail trailing it and stabilising its flight seeming to allow it to change direction very quickly, as it passed overhead Smoke could hear the caught Draconis screaming in a mixture of pain and fear and he had to force himself to stay his hand as his desire to help the woman very nearly caused him to give away his position and fire upon the creature, it was a strange feeling to wish to help your enemy, but in his opinion as natural as this act was for the huge creature it was still horrific to watch a sentient being getting eaten alive.

As the creature passed low over his head casting him into shadow Smoke realized that what he thought were two huge wings were actually six smaller ones, three on either side, this only added to the huge creature's manoeuvrability, which in a world like this it really fucking needed because what happened next Smoke couldn't have predicted in a million years if he was given infinite guesses.

The Draconis were determined to either save their lost comrade or extract some form of payback for her loss and were chasing the creature firing at it as they flapped their own huge wings in pursuit, but the creature which had been gliding over the trees trailing its four clawed legs which made it kinda resemble a Gryphon from the Earth fables that their Grand Patriarch would tell when the people gathered together for a large meal of togetherness to celebrate a hunt, it both celebrated the skill of the hunters and as was the way of Paya gave thanks for the prey and their sacrifice.

The creature changed direction like a dancing Xeno and in a flash of movement Smoke saw why, out of nowhere two of the trees ahead of it on the course it had been on suddenly sprung to life and out of the branches spindly legs shot forth each having what appeared to be strands of something shiny strung between them, the pursuing Draconis swerved to avoid it but not all of them were so lucky and one at the back flew right into the web of strands and stopped dead.

In a flash, the tree creature instantly wrapped the screaming woman like a mummy breaking both her wings off with a sickening pair of wet sounding cracks which caused the woman to scream as jets of bloodshot from the stumps in her back where the arteries that had fed the wings were suddenly severed, but before her comrades could intervene the tree creature revealed it's true self and a truly monstrous head appeared out of the upper foliage.

It looked like a cross between an ant and a spider, it's large antenna covered in something designed to simulate foliage, it had a pair of pincer-like mandibles on its rounded head which was covered ina skin designed to simulate tree bark, in-between the mandibles a large pair of fangs extended and sank right into the hapless woman cutting off her screams as they flooded her with some kind of fact acting toxin that sent her as limp as a boned fish.

That's when the mandibles began removing limbs from the now dead woman like giant organic blades that simply sheared them clean off like they were made of paper, smaller legs appeared from the faux foliage and guided the severed limbs up to the creature's mouth between the fangs and the mandibles and they simply vanished.

Smoke watched in utter horror suddenly very glad that he had not landed in that tree, it was some kind of giant spider, suddenly he realized why exactly it was that the Raptorians lived underground, he also got the distinct impression that the Yautja were going to be soiling their fucking fishnets the second they learned of them and he got the feeling that as soon as the war here was overhunting parties were gonna have a field with this place.

But even while the chaos in the sky above him was raging it seemed that the planet wasn't done yet, over to his far-left there was a tremendous bellowing roar and Smoke turned just in time to see a huge heat bloom rushing through the trees towards a returning column of vehicles heading back into the base, an even if he hadn't seen the heat bloom the path of trees being smashed over like match sticks kinda gave it away.

That's when Smoke saw them and his blood ran even colder than when the tree spider ant thing made an appearance, four of them charged out of the tree line and hit the tanks like a living wrecking ball, giant lizards the size of a house with huge armoured heads covered in an array of horns and spikes that they used to try and impale the tanks they hit, their scales were shifting in colour as they moved, they had been green when they burst out of the trees, but now they were on the river they shifted to a blue which indicated they had a kind of natural active camo.

It looked like a cross between an alligator and a T Rex, a truly massive head with a long snout filled with razor-sharp teeth split open as it tried to bite down on the stricken tank's armour, it whipped at the next closest one with its tails which seemed to have retractable spines along it that flicked out to help it impale, by the set up of its digitigrade legs it could stand on its rear legs or run on all fours.

The tanks in the rear of the column opened fire on the huge creatures with their main guns as the creatures dug huge divots and gouges into their armour with every attack, their shots sending huge plasma charged shots into the beasts blowing off body parts as the huge glowing blue-green orbs smashed into their scales, but not before the creatures inflicted an incredible amount of damage of the heavily armoured vehicles.

It seemed that this war wouldn't just be a war against the Raptorians for the invaders, but against the very planet itself, it seemed that everything on this planet was perfectly adapted to kill in some way or another, from perfect ambush tactics honed over millennia to monstrous power and brutal fury focused into a savage blood lust.

Only one of the T Alligators was left standing after the barrage and it upon seeing its friends or possibly pack mates decimated by the heavy fire flew into a blood rage, it leapt right up onto of the nearest tank and with an incredible amount of strength tore the turret clean off before throwing it at the next closest one, it plunged its long snout into the hole it hand made and by the screams he could hear it sounded like it had found the crew of the vehicle.

The guard towers of the base had now joined in the fray as alarms began screaming all around the FOB, plasma machine guns began to stitch the Aligator making it raise its long bloodied head from the now utterly crippled tank, it was just in time for the next tank in the column to get a bead and with a single shot from its main gun the beast's head turned into a cloud of mist.

They couldn't see the Tree Spider Ant as it had morphed back into the foliage and resumed its charade, but the gryphon thing was still circling while being pursued by the remaining Draconis, the towers opened up with a 20mm triple barrelled Gatling gun that sent burning hot lead through the sky visible because of the line of tracers in amongst the invisible bullets that they guided.

These things were usually mounted to large ships as a form of anti-air and anti-missile defence using a computer to target and spray any incoming with a wall of lead so dense it was impossible to fly through, but they worked just as well on the ground when used for air defence as well, the bullets moved a lot faster than plasma bolts and while plasma was a hell of a lot more powerful than simple lead, in this role it worked perfectly well as it struck and turned both the gryphon and its Draconis meal to be into a cloud of chunks, very nearly taking the pursuing Draconis with it.

THat's when he heard it again, a soft chittering noise like a whisper among the trees around him, but not close, it was like the noise was drifting to him from somewhere below him, so slowly he crawled to the edge of the outcrop and leaned over to look into the foliage of the trees below, at first he saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing.

But then he saw them, so small he could barely make out the thermal signatures against the background, but they were there, six of them moving like shadows among the tall grass at the edge of the river closest to him, when he tried to see them in normal vision he could see nothing but grass, either they were using a camo system much like their own or they were using such good camouflage that they just blended in perfectly, he was too high up to get any real detail on them even with his zoom in play.  
Silently he watched as they grouped together at the edge of the grass, they seemed to be setting up something long and round like a piece of pipe, in fact, it took Smoke until they had it set up to realise what it was, it was a mortar.

They seemed to be waiting for something, they formed a loose circle around the mortar which was hidden in the grass out of range of the guns of the FOB, the shapes were small, the tallest among them could only be about four and a half feet tall, he couldn't see what they were armed with from here or any detail other than they were short, that was the problem with thermal vision while it could pick out a mouse at two miles against a normal background, it couldn't show you any more than it was a mouse and you could only guess at that.

Suddenly one of the creatures he guessed and indeed hoped were Raptorians stepped forwards and picked something up from a pack on one of the backs of the other, then like a perfectly timed Freedom Day's firework display they fired and they weren't alone.

From a verity of spots around the surrounding jungle and rivers edges, there were a series of dull thuds and they created splashes of gold and red on Smoke's thermal vision, he counted eight separate launch sites, to the naked eye, they would see nothing but to Smoke's thermal vision he saw the heated gasses that created bright red arches through the air as the mortars flew from their launch sites towards the FOB in long lazy arcs.

The anti-air gattling gun woke up and went crazy spinning on its mounting firing bursts into the air in order to detonate the mortars early, of the eight fired it hit four but the other four hit the ground sending huge plumes of flame-filled smoke upwards as they detonated, instantly the guard towers began to rake the jungle and ground in the general direction that the mortars had come from causing the Raptiorans to scatter as their positions were compromised.

Some unleashed shoulder-mounted missiles in the direction of the guard towers before scattering with their fellows and though most were intercepted by the anti-air turret two made it through the screen of lead and hit the towers, the towers were obviously designed to weather the hits from the weapons though causing minimum damage to the superstructure, this was his chance and Smoke decided that this was his chance, he just had to find the fleeing Raptorian team that was closest to him.

So Smoke as unhappy as he was about going out into the jungle filled with abundance of living nightmares this planet seemed to offer dropped down from his rocky outcrop and into the trees, well he hoped they were trees anyway but given that they didn't try to eat him he felt safe enough, he tried to remember what their Grand Matriarch had taught them about hunting smaller prey.

He used his height advantage to cast about in the trees until he found what he was looking for, footprints on the colder ground, they weren't human that was for sure as they seemed to be shaped like a large bird's foot, two large toes and a narrow heel and sole, they were all over the place, like they were running in circles like headless chickens but that's when something Tik had said flashed through Smoke's mind, this was an attempt throw off and confuse any pursuit, to make the pursuers chase their own tails and go in circles.

Smoke hopped from branch to branch his power-assisted movements making up for his human inadequacies, he knew that moving at speed would compromise his cloak somewhat and turn him into a rippling shimmer that was visible to an observant eye, but he had no choice, the Raptorians were moving fast and he had to work to catch up and given that he was being slowed by their counter pursuit manoeuvre he had to make up for it with speed.

Unfortunately, that was his first mistake, he was desperately trying not to lose the trail among the undergrowth which meant he had to move fast before the marks faded, as he was running along a branch not looking forwards but down at the trails of prints below him in the undergrowth the branch suddenly exploded under him propelling him first forwards and then downwards into the ground with a heavy thud that sent a shot of pain through his body, the impact jarred his senses and before he could get them cleared and back figures appeared out of the undergrowth all around him in a circle.

It was like the jungle was alive for a brief moment before it morphed into six little gun-toting figures, "Ahh fuck" Smoke moaned as he found himself staring down six gun barrels that by the look of them were plasma-based but there was something different about these ones, but right now that really didn't matter as they were all pointed at his head.

Every instinct in Smoke's body screamed at him to grab his own weapon from its sling on his back but he stayed his hands and slowly lifted them to show he meant no harm, the figures around him were bipedal, humanoid, standing on a pair of digitigrade legs looked very muscular in the thigh region but very thin in the calf area, they were obviously meant for speed, each one had a very long tail behind them that was as long as they were tall, their torso's were small and compact and their arms were thick for their size denoting a decent amount of strength in those compact little bodies.

They were blatantly all females by the hourglass shapes of their short bodies visible even through the battle suits they wore, even under the plate carrier style body armour the swells on their chests which announced the presence of breasts, as he watched them colours began to swirl over their suits and they looked at him which what appeared to be confusion, like they didn't seem to know what to make of him, "Err hello, my name is Smoke, I'm a Hunter of the Guardian Core of Clan Mason....." he began before as swift as a striking snake one of them stepped forwards and planted a rifle butt to the side of his head.

Thanks to his helmet which absorbed the blow it did not hurt nearly as much as it should of, but the force behind the blow was both impressive and an obvious indicator for him to shut the fuck up, one of the others in the group didn't seem to like the fact that he'd been struck and she chittered at his assailant with what sounded to be anger, but then given he had no clue how their language sounded in context she could have been congratulating her and telling her to do it again for all he knew.

But Smoke covered his head with his arms all the same as they angrily chittered among themselves, right up until as fast as a striking snake again one of them snatched his rifle from his back pulling him backwards off his knees as the sling caught on his chest, as he went to grab for it five barrels closed into his vision, she turned the rifle over in her two-fingered hands which by the pointy shapes at the tips of her gloves had claws of some kind, she was obviously trying to figure the weapon out that's when she made a bad mistake and she gripped the handgrip.  
"Whoa! I wouldn't do that if I were you!!" Smoke exclaimed reaching out his hands towards her causing her to recoil and one of the others to strike him again, but it was too late.

"Unauthorised user detected, deploying countermeasures," the rifle said in perfect English, the little creature went as stiff as a board even her tail sticking out as stiff as a board as the hundred thousand volt shock ran through her body before she slumped to the ground releasing the rifle to the floor, this did not go down at all well with the others, they started chittering angrily as two of them broke ranks and rushed to their fallen comrade checking her over, Smoke knew she wasn't dead it was simply an anti-theft security system that rendered any would-be thief unconscious if they attempted to use the weapon, all Clan Mason weaponry was outfitted with such things.

"I tried to warn you," Smoke said before another blow silenced him and a rifle barrel was pressed against his faceplate hard, now Smoke was not an aggressive person by nature, but he was getting really sick of being hit for no goddess damn reason, so he felt now would be a good time for a bit of a show of force of his own.   
So this time Smoke rather than just take the blow he responded as his Hunter training kicked in, his mask lit up and the two closest Raptorians found that they had a triangle of red laser dots on their heads, with two sharp clicks and a high pitched whir his plasma casters popped up on their gimbals and took up the aim spinning up as they did, the one who put the barrel to his faceplate went to move but stopped when she felt something hard against her throat and the movement of her head made it obvious that she had glanced down at the long wrist blade that had extended while she'd been distracted.

The pair tending to their fallen friend turned and found themselves facing his other hand which had extended his wrist launcher, granted it was only loaded with shock darts but they didn't know that, they all froze solid as they realized they were in a Mexican standoff.

The revelation that not only was he not disarmed but utterly armed to the teeth seemed to shock the little creatures and they were sharing a lot of nervous glances, Smoke noticed that their suits seemed to be photochromic, he noticed little what appeared to be letters or words flashing rapidly in streams of colour across their faces or shoulders, they were communicating without speaking, very smart.

"I'm not your enemy so please stop hitting me" Smoke snarled angrily, he could tell they were wound tighter than springs at this point thanks to the fact that he wasn't as disarmed as they'd believed but also that he had enough weapons on him to hold them all at bay at once, but he knew that he had to deescalate this or one of them was going to get shot most likely him, so with slow precise movements he pulled his hands back and retracted his wrist blade and launcher before also powering down his plasma casters and returning them to their locked positions which seemed to surprise the little group.

"I am not your enemy, we came here to help you, we got a call from our allies the Serpentinus telling us that you were under attack, so we came to aid you," Smoke said slowly and softly, while he was talking he leaned down very very slowly and retrieved his rifle which made them nervous as hell as he could see them tensing up.

So with carefully measured movements he returned it to his back on its sling on his back letting it hang keeping his hands free of it, this lifted some of the tension in the air but not enough that he felt comfortable, that's when Smoke had an idea, maybe if he showed them he wasn't a Scalathor then maybe they wouldn't attack him, so with a slow measured movement, he raised his hand to his neck and pressed the helmet release.

Thankfully they already knew that the air was not toxic and they hadn't detected any contagions that could cause them issue, so with a hiss of released pressure his faceplate retracted and the helmet split apart before the whole thing retracted into the part around his neck revealing his face to the surprised creatures.

"See? Not a Scalathor, or a Draconis, I'm a human a......" Smoke began but unfortunately, he didn't get to finish the sentence as the one who had hit him with the rifle butt repeatedly saw an opportunity and rather than take a chance on him being a new form of enemy she stuck like a coiled snake and this time without the protection of the helmet the butt found nothing but skin and skull to stop it.

It felt like being full force punched in the face by an angry Yautja girl who's birthday you'd forgotten, there was a sharp crack that echoed through his skull as his nose caved and his head rung like a bell, sending white bursts of light into his vision which seemed to split into double, then triple, then quadruple as he collapsed to the floor on his back, all of his senses were star bursting in his head as they tried to realign, it felt like being in a room when a flash-bang went off, he could hear a lot of fast paced chittering and he wasn't sure but it sorta sounded angry but he couldn't tell, the edges of his vision pulsed with grey as his mind tried despretly to hang onto its consciousness, but he could feel his mind letting go, the blow had been a lot harder than he'd thought, maybe enough to even give him a concussion, a fact that his suit detected and just before his eyes rolled up into his head his helmet deployed to protect him from any further harm, but it didn't matter the blackness still found him.

Waking up felt like trying to drag his mind out of a tar bog, like the blackness was sticking and clinging to his thoughts as he tried in vain to leaver them free and force them back into his brain, soft sounds began to flutter into his mind from all around him, he couldn't pin down if they were close or far as everything seemed to echo, it was like being inside a tornado with sounds and thoughts swirling around, the last memories of what happened to him swam into his mind as did the pain and shock that came with them, not to mention the fear, they'd attacked him, why had they attacked him?

Something jolted him and his whole body pulsed as his mind tried to reconnect to it, slowly his thoughts emerged out of the tar pit of the blackness and he felt his eyes and forced them open, instantly his head was assaulted by white-hot pain that felt like a thousand screeching Xeno's at a party in his head, "User has regained consciousness, mild concussion detected, heavy damage to nasal bones, air passage blocked reconstruction required, slight fracture to right cheekbone and heavy swelling to right eye causing loss of vision and depth perception, pain killers and anti-inflammatories administered, please seek Battle Angel assistance immediately" a sweet female human voice said in his head in English.

The white hotness and stabbing intensity of the pain was what finally pulled his mind back into reality before the pain killers that his suit administered blurred it out, the voice of his suit was right as his vision swam back into focus as his senses did their best to reattach themselves to the organs responsible for generating them, he couldn't see out of his right eye and everything was pulsing and blurry, he remembered the savage blow from the rifle stock to the face that had broken his nose and damaged his cheekbone apparently, that's when he realized he appeared to be standing up.

Slowly and groggily he lifted his head which suddenly became painfully aware had been hanging on his chest, using the one eye that still sort of worked he looked around himself and he realized he appeared to be in a blacked-out room where the only source of light was hanging right above his head, it was creating a bright circle of light that was directly around him, but it didn't extend more than three feet away from him in any direction, he swore he could hear whispering and chittering in the ink like blackness beyond it.

It took him a painfully long moment to realise that both of his arms had been secured above his head with both his wrists and elbows bound with what appeared to be shackles and chains, effectively rendering both his wrist blades and his shoulder-mounted plasma casters useless, as with his wrists locked in what appeared to be a rectangular shackle unit that was secured to the ceiling by a pair of long chains he couldn't deploy the wrist blades, while the chains that had been wrapped around his forearms and elbows stopped him using his wrist launcher.

This position was also smart as it prevented him from deploying his plasma casters which were locked in their housing units on the tops of his shoulders, both of his ankles were secured to the floor with a pair of shackles essentially securing him in place.

His suit wasn't showing any tamper alerts so they hadn't tried to remove any of his weapons, probably for fear of what happened to their friend when she'd handled his rifle, from what he felt of the weight it was still on his back along with his combi stick or war spear as some Yautja called them, it was one of the trademark weapons of a Hunter, they all carried them along with the Smart Disc's on his hips, all Yautja based weaponry given a human and Xeno flair.

He heard more chittering from the shadows around him and he switched his vision to thermal with a simple command, the room instantly lit up in a deep blue colour that removed all the shadows around him and also revealed the small figures all using it to hide in, it appeared their combat suits weren't designed to mask their thermal signatures like his was, panning his head from left to right which caused the dull ache in his skull to magnify as did the bright golden light being given off by the thermal signatures of the twelve figures hiding in the shadows of what appeared to be a cave by the cold stone walls made of what appeared to be bed-rock.

They were all watching him intently while whispering to one another, they appeared to be waiting for something, or maybe for someone, so Smoke decided to speak first, "I can see you all, there's no need to hide from me, I didn't come here to hurt you, though by the way my head feels right now same can't be said for you" he said his words falling into a whisper as he looked around at the group in the shadows, they chittered to themselves though this time a bit louder.

"Fuck of course you can't understand me, suit activate universal translator protocol," he said half to himself half to the vocal command unit in his suit.

"Universal translator protocol active, new language detected, incredibly complex vocal structure, unknown translation time" his suit replied in its incredibly calm voice, he wished he could be as calm as she sounded, but inside he was shaking.

"Come on Smoke think, there has to be a way to communicate, this is what you do for fuck sake, find a way to talk to these people," he said angrily to himself, but fear was still clouding his mind and making it difficult to think, he was a proud Hunter and he had to make the Grand Matriarch proud of him, he just had to, he had a chance to open a dialogue with these people and to show them that they were not the enemy and every second that he failed was another second that his brothers and sisters out there working in the shadows remained in danger of friendly fire by the very people they were here to help and he was not going to let that happen, but while he was desperately racking his brains another group entered the room and instantly the atmosphere changed, he recognised a snap to attention when he saw one.

The new group made up of eight individuals chittered to the other groups in the shadows before they finally approached him and stepped into the light circle that surrounded him, they wore the same form-fitting combat suits as the others but their helmets were missing giving his first look at a Raptorian.

They had small pointed heads that tapered into flat-tipped snouts, they had dome-shaped skulls that had feathers that ran in four distinct rows from the tops of their heads down the back of their necks, they were covered in what appeared to be overlapping scales that formed a natural form of armour, they looked like a cross between a Velociraptor and a miniature dragon, they had two flared nostrils on the tip of their snouts just above their lip line, their eyes were large and forwards facing, binocular vision, these were predators plain and simple, small ones yes but predators all the same.

They seemed to come in a verity of colours as well, there seemed to be very little uniformity other than their shape and sizes, their scales ranged from jet black right up to ice white, some of them had camouflage patterning, others had mixtures of red and orange, their feathers were the same, one of them had jet black scales with white and red feathers, another had ice white scales with black and pink feathers, their eyes were just as colourful, the one closest to him right now had eyes like burnt amber which really stood out from her black scales.

The vertical slit pupils narrowed as she looked at him and she chittered something that almost sounded like a bark looking around, a group of six stepped into the light and saluted, he recognised the suits, these were the one's that captured him, or at least he thought so, the black scaled leader chittered at them and they chittered back, one of them mimed a helmet retracting then pointed to another of the group and mimed striking something with a rifle butt, before miming the helmet going back up, she also mimed pressing something under their chin.

The leader stepped up to him with the other seven that had entered with her, "Hey I'm not you're enemy, I came here to help you" Smoke said, she answered with a series of chitters and clicks, he noticed that she seemed to have small sharp and pointed teeth, but rather than keep talking she reached up and pushed his head up by pushing her hand under his chin and lifting it, she seemed to be feeling for his helmet release, "My suit won't let you open it" Smoke said trying to warn her, but obviously his unknown words fell on deaf ears because she located the catch and pressed it.

She jumped back with a loud yelp of shock and pain as the suit delivered a short sharp shock at the attempted unauthorized access attempt, there was a lot of angry chittering and hissing as the female who got her hand shocked cradled her hand before shaking it and flexing her fingers, there was a tremor passing through it, "I tried to warn you" Smoke sighed, a part of him felt like laughing but he honestly didn't want to see any of them hurt, she shouted at him now the anger obvious in her voice and she stepped forwards and squared up to him which wasn't all that effective as at over six foot tall he stood a foot and a half over her head.

She hissed at him angrily and one of the others stepped forwards and placed a two-fingered hand on her shoulder, she jumped a bit but then resumed her glare at him, suddenly Smoke had an idea, well two actually, one was kinda stupid but the other might actually work, "Suit release helmet, raise it in ten seconds" he said and with that, the suit released the helmet seals and the visor lifted before collapsing into the neckpieces again.

The black scaled one-shot forwards again like she was going to strike him but before she could another grabbed her arm and stopped her short, that's when the black scaled one seemingly realized she wasn't looking at a Scalathor and her eyes widened in surprise, a look of utter confusion slid over her face along with her companions, he saw her eyes darting all over his face before lingering on his eye and his nose, she went to reach up to grab his face but it was a slow controlled movement rather than a rapid aggressive one, but before she could complete the action the helmet closed back up and sealed him behind the protective barrier again, she tapped a blunt claw on the faceplate of his helmet chittering in a softer voice this time.

"Suit switch vocal translation mode, switch projected language to Serpentinus" Smoke said.

A little symbol like a Yautja speaking popped up in his HUD to indicate the translation mode was active, "I'm not sure if you guys can understand this but I'm willing to bet someone does as the Serpentinus are your allies, your friends correct?" Smoke said and the voice that came from the suit was in perfect Serpentinus and that got the attention of every single person in the room, he instantly felt every set of eyes lock onto him and go very wide, they might not speak it but they sure as hell recognised it.

The one with black scales who had her hand shocked instantly began barking and chittering orders at the others and three of them raced out of the room hopefully to find a translator of some kind, now maybe, just maybe that'd actually get somewhere that didn't involve beating the shit out of each other or shocking one another, or at least that was his distinct hope anyway, he just hoped that they didn't resort to torture before his words got through to them, oh goddess that was a real possibility here, because until he somehow not only opened a dialogue with these people and somehow proved to them that he was on their side, he was an enemy combatant, which given his already broken nose, fractured cheekbone and swollen eye, it was painfully obvious how far they were willing to go.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Language Barriers.

Smoke's shoulders felt like they were on fire, he'd been hanging from his wrists for what must have been hours before this little interrogation session had even begun while he was unconscious from the blow to the head via the rifle butt one of the Raptorians had delivered to him upon seeing her chance when he'd removed his helmet.

The painkillers that his suit had shot him with were starting to wear off which had started as a dull ache at first but had steadily gotten worse as time had passed, his whole head was pulsing in time with the beating of his heart and it got worse with every passing hour, ever since the little group of translator Raptorians had come into the cell they were holding him in, they'd had a long discussion with the command group while the group that had captured him looked on, their attention switching constantly between them and him, once the high-speed conversation was done the translator group moved towards him surrounding him in a circle which was despite their small stature was actually rather intimidating.

Unlike the two other groups present the translators all seemed to be the same colour and to have the same pattern, they were also smaller than the others which given how small they already were made them surprisingly obvious, they were all bright green with yellow swirls almost like tiger stripes over them, they looked like someone had painted them with a kind of light coloured camo paint, he also noticed that unlike the others their scales were not overlapping like that natural armour, thiers all seemed to be like interlocking mosaics.

Their scales also seemed to have been buffed and polished so that when they stepped under the ring of light from above him they seemed to shine, it was honestly like they were glowing and if it wasn't for his visor's light filter it would have made them difficult to look at them, he also noticed that they were absolutely covered in what looked like jewellery and charms, they had necklaces around their slender necks, what almost looked like circlets and tiara's on their small domed heads nestled between their thicker feathers which unlike the others were a rainbow of colours, in fact, each and every feather seemed to be all colours at once like they were changing and shifting constantly as they moved under the light.

Their feathers were so light and fluffy it was like they almost had no mass and that when Smoke realized the feathers didn't actually have a colour of their own, they worked like prisms, they split the light that passed through them giving them the appearance of rainbows and that's why they seemed to shift in colour as they moved under the light, they also seemed to have various shades of what appeared to be dark eyeliner around their huge eyes which looked almost bright silver in colour making them appear almost ethereal in their brightness.

Smoke tried to focus on the one directly in front of him, she was about three and a half feet tall, slender with powerful looking legs, but she didn't seem to have a uniform like the others, they were wearing a billowy flowing top and what appeared to be a skirt of some kind, their tails were also longer than the others and seemed to be decorated with little charms on the tips that reminded him of little ball like bells that jingled slightly and musically as they moved, the little creature looked at him curiously, "Can you understand me?" the Raptorian said in a soft almost musical voice in utterly perfect Serpentinus.

"Yes, I can understand you" Smoke replied and the little Raptorian cocked it's head and blinked.

"They have brought us here to talk to you," another of the group said from directly behind him.

"Who are you?" one on his right asked.

"What are you?" one on his left asked.

"Why are you here?" another on his rear left asked.

"How many of you are there?" one on his rear right asked.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, that's too many questions all at once" Smoke exclaimed loud enough to make the little Raptorians jump in surprise, he also saw the other group that had caught him twitch almost defensively as well as the command group.

"So who are you?" the little Raptorian directly in front of him asked in a now surprisingly nervous voice like it expected him to burst loose and start murdering them all.

"My people call me Smoke, I am a full-blooded Hunter of Clan Mason, I am a human being," Smoke said in a calm controlled voice, instantly the command group began chittering obviously asking the translators what he was saying and they chittered back answering them.

They went back and forth for a few moments before the one directly behind him spoke, "Human what is that?" it asked in an equally soft voice as the first one.

"It's my species," Smoke said and one of the others chittered away obviously translating what he was saying as he was saying it, one of the command group responded obviously setting up another question.

"You said you are a full-blooded Hunter, are you here to hunt us?" one behind him on the left asked it's voice sounding rather nervous now.

"No it's my rank in Clan Mason" he replied as another of them translated what he was saying.

"So you are military? A soldier?" the one directly on his right asked.

"Yes" Smoke said and this caused a lot of aggressive chittering ass what he said was translated.

"Why are the Scalathor and Draconis here? What do they want?" the one to his left asked.

"They are working for some kind of Dark Deity that calls itself the Dark Seed, look I don't pretend to be an expert on this kinda stuff, I'm an electronic warfare expert, I do computers and comms, one of our Seekers would be able to explain it better, all I know is they tried to kill the Serpentinus royal pack and we stopped them, now they've come after you, I think they are trying to cut the Great Tree off from its children, but that's my opinion, all I know is we came here to help you not to fight you, the Serpentinus sent us the distress call your people sent out and we responded," Smoke said as the one in front of him chittered away and now all hell broke loose among the command group.

In fact it stirred them so much that they marched forwards into the light and stood next to a translator each so they could begin firing questions at him, "What do you know of the Great Tree?" one asked.

"What are their plans?" another asked.

"What are their numbers?" another asked.

"How are they planning to breach the underground?" another asked.

"Whoa! We are not working with them! We are here to fight them not help them!" Smoke yelled as he realized what they were implying here.

Suddenly one rushed forwards and he recognised her as the commander who went to strike him before after he dropped his mask when she shocked herself on the release switch, she grabbed the jaw of his mask and yanked his head so that he was forced to look at her, "We don't believe you!!" she yelled but the translator spoke softly but Smoke recognised angry chittering when he heard it.

"If I planned to kill you then I would have shot your soldiers when I had the chance, ask them, ask them how I had every single one of them at gun and blade point but I did not shoot them, so if my plan was to kill you then either I'm not really good at my job, or there's another reason isn't there?" Smoke said.

This little revelation seemed to make them pause and the command group turned and spoke to the group that captured him, they seemed to be confirming what he had said by their sudden shift in body language, this seemed to make the command group real curious and the one who had tried to strike him before marched back up to him again and stood next to her translator, she began chittering away, "Why should we believe you?" she asked.

This kinda stumped Smoke honestly, it was a fair point really, how exactly was he going to prove what he was saying to them, they had absolutely no reason to trust him and right now their planet was utterly under invasion by two species trying to kill them and as far as they were concerned he was no different, possibly the only reason he was still alive right now was the fact that they didn't know what he was and they were curious as to why a species they had never seen before was here also as far as they were concerned he was no different from the Scalathor or Draconis.

"There are currently twenty Scalathor and Draconis cruisers and frigates orbiting your planet, your orbital defences are destroyed, as is your fleet, they have dropped forward operating bases into your jungles and possibly other areas, they have tanks, heavy weapons and what appeared to be artillery, they are jamming the communications on the planet to make it impossible for anyone but them to communicate, that is my job, the regional jamming is coming from that FOB that your team fired mortars and rockets at, so far that is all I know," Smoke said and the commander in front of him never broke her hard gaze as the translator repeated his words in their language.

"These are things are we already know," the commander behind him said.

"How many of you are on our planet?" the one to his left asked.

"Forty-eight split into four teams of twelve, four Seekers, four Hunters and four Battle Angels per team and before you ask no I have no idea where my team are I crashed, a piece of one of the debris that was raining down in our drop zone hit my wingsuit and destroyed my wings so I had to bail out, I cannot contact them while the jamming is in place, the same as I'm guessing you cannot contact your field teams and recon teams, look I don't know how to make you believe this and I know I cannot make you trust me but we are not your enemy, we are here to help you, so either let me help you or lock-in in a fucking cell already because there is nothing more I can tell you," Smoke said.

"What are these Seekers and Battle Angels of which you speak?" the one to his right asked.

"Seekers are Clan Mason's Dream Warriors and Battle Angels are our field surgeons," Smoke said.

"How come you can speak Serpentinus?" one of them behind him asked immediately.

"I can't well I can understand it and I can write it but I can't really speak it but my suit can, it's fitted with a universal translator system, our Seekers learned the Serpentinus language when we met them, don't ask me to explain how they are a fucking mystery to me, all I know is you don't fuck with a Dream Warrior if you like being alive, or sane or both, but they programmed the language into our suits when we got back to our homeworld but they also put it into all of our heads so we'd all be able to communicate with the Serpentinus and the Ghost Slitherers we took with us back for training at the temple," Smoke said and suddenly they all froze.

"What do you know of Ghost Slithers?" one of them asked very quickly.

"Not much, that's more the Seekers thing but I know they are Serpentinus Dream Warriors and they are very powerful but untrained, our Dream Warriors are currently training them so they can return home and protect their people as ours protect us," Smoke said.

There was a lot of exciting chittering and what sounded like arguing, then one of them turned, "Remove your armour we wish to study it" she said and Smoke trie to turn his head to the left to see who spoke.

"No," he said flatly.

"You are in no position to argue with us, tell us how to remove the suit, you are asking us to trust you then help us to trust you" she replied as flatly as him, Smoke suddenly realized this tactic, it was a loyalty test.

"No I will not betray my people, we came here to help you fight the Scalathor and the Draconis, but I'm not giving you our technology, that's for either our Grand Patriarch or Matriarch to decide upon, it's useless to you anyway it is designed to be usable by one person, you cannot use my guns or my blades but I can, besides you cannot reverse engineer it because if you try it will self destruct and I will not help you to figure out how to bypass it even if I could, we came here to help you but if you'd rather reject our help so be it let me go and I'll take that new to my people if I can find them," he said.

"We could torture you you know," the one on his right said.

"You could but then you will most definitely make an enemy of Clan Mason, we do not take things like that lightly, hurt one and you hurt all of us and for someone already facing two united enemies making a third of someone trying to be your friend doesn't sound very smart to me," he said.

"If you are what you say then you are just a soldier, the loss of one soldier would not impact a decision like that," the one directly in front of him said her eyes narrowing as she said it.

"Then you do not understand Clan Mason, there is no such thing as someone of no consequence to us, every member of the Clan stands for every other member, unified as one, to hurt one is to hurt us all, to kill one earns you the vengeance of all, kill me if you must but be prepared for the consequences because the moment one of our Soul Knights finds out what you did and trust me they will then they will not ignore it, you think you're fucked now wait till they come for you, so now the choice is yours, friend or enemy but from where I'm sitting it seems to me you guys could really use a friend, otherwise why call the Serpentinus for aid? You called and we came, I do not blame you for being suspicious of us we are strangers to you, but at the end of the day isn't the enemy of my enemy my friend?" Smoke said.

Over the next three hours they asked him the same questions about a hundred different ways but again and again and again Smoke gave them the same answers, eventually, they left him alone so they could deliberate, all Smoke could think of right now was the pain he was in, his back, his shoulders, his hips, everything hurt, everything felt like it was on fire, suddenly his suit decided to speak up, "Translation complete, current translation level basic but the database will continue to expand as you encounter more of the language" it said.

"Oh great so now I can speak Raptorian, not that it's going to do me much good as they're probably going to leave me in here till my fucking arms pop out of the sockets," he said bitterly to himself.

Suddenly there was a series of clank that sounded like bolts being undone and the door to the large chamber opened, all of them filed back in including the group that captured him, once again the translators surrounded him in a circle, a commander stood next to each of them again, "We are beginning to think that you may be telling the truth, our scouts are reporting that a covert group is attacking and harassing the Scalathor and Draconis and we believe it to be the work of your people as our people cannot explain what they saw and we are hoping you would be able to shed some light on this" the commander directly in front of him said.

"By all means, release me from these restraints and I'll be happy to answer your questions but right now I'm in a lot of pain, I'm hungry and very thirsty and where I come from we have rules for the treatment of prisoners of war," he said in the best Raptorian that his suit could manage which surprised all of them, the translators looked at their commanders for guidance and the commanders and the capture group looked stunned.

"You've learned our language in the short time you have been here?" the one behind him asked the surprise evident in her voice.

"Not me, my universal translator, honestly I wouldn't have a hope in hell of pronouncing any of these sounds, they are way too complex for my larynx," Smoke said.

"Larynx? What is a larynx?" the commander to his right asked,

"The organ my species uses to communicate, now do you want my help or not?" Smoke asked as confidently as he could but inside the pain and underlying fear were making his heart shake.

They shared a lot of glances among themselves, but finally, the commander directly in front of him spoke again, "What guarantees do we have that you won't betray us or attack us the moment your bonds are off?" she asked.

"If I were going to attack you then I would have done it when I had the chance back in the jungle, I most certainly wouldn't lower my helmet and give one of your soldiers a chance to break my fucking nose and cheekbone now would I?" Smoke said angrily as his pain and fatigue reared its head and shortened his temper and stirred his ire.

More shared glances, "Release her but I want all weapons trained on her untill we are sure she will not attack," the commander directly in front of him said and one of the capture group who seemed to be acting as a set of guards now stepped forwards and unlocked first his ankle restraints freeing his feet, another of them unhooked a chain from behind him somewhere and his arms fell forwards with enough force to make him glad he was wearing armour because he had no feeling in them and the rectangular block holding his wrists slammed into his crotch and also removed the support holding him up causing him to drop to his knees.

Another guard came forwards and with two large very ornate keys she placed into either side at once she unlocked the block freeing his hands, "Err thanks and this might just be a translator glitch but did you just call me 'she'?" Smoke asked trying in vain to wiggle his fingers.

"Yes so?" the commander said as all of them retreated to what they felt was a safe distance away from him and he also noticed that they were all holding weapons now.

"Oh nothing just checking and wrong gender is all" Smoke said trying to shake some life back into his arms which were like two pool noodles attached to his shoulders, the commander snorted and a few of the others laughed all around him.

"You honestly expect us to believe that you're kind would allow a male to go into battle?" one of them said to his right and he desperately tried to fight through the hot stabbing needles of pain shooting up and down his arms.

"Half our ground force is male, myself included and I don't exactly like the implications or aspersions your casting on my gender here," Smoke said trying to get to his feet and failing as his legs were in no better shape than his arms, in fact his entire body was not doing so well and he suddenly realized why stress positions were so effective.

The explosion of chittering that filled the chamber was so fast and aggressive that his translator couldn't keep up and an explosion of error messages began flashing into his HUD, they were all arguing about something, well all except for the translators they just seemed to be watching with their heads bowed from the area they had chose in which to stand in a close group, eventually, one of the commanders broke from the group and marched right up to him and due to the fact that he was stuck on his knees as both his legs didn't work and his arms were currently as much use as wet noodles she stood over him.

"Prove it," she said in a commanding voice and Smoke lifted his head to look at her questioningly.

"Prove what?" he asked.

"That you are male! Prove to us that you are male!" she exclaimed her voice sounding exasperated and almost worried.

This utterly took Smoke aback and he looked at her questioningly finding himself looking into a pair of bright red eyes which given the white scale all around them really made them glow, "Excuse me?" he said his voice wavering as the implications of what she'd just asked began to rampage through his head.

She immediately turned to her comrades, "See? What did I tell you? She was faking it so that we would take pity on her nothing more, she must somehow know our laws and she is using her alien status to confuse us nothing more, what's more, I told you she was lying, I do not know what she wants here but it is not to be our ally, we should bind her and take her equipment from her" the white scaled commander said triumphantly.

A flash of white-hot anger pulsed through the back of Smoke's mind, "Hey! I am not lying!" he yelled and the white scaled commander spun around and got right in his face this time, so close that not only could he count the overlapping scales on her snout but the sharp pointy little teeth that utterly filled her mouth, hell it almost looked from here that she had two rows of them, like a shark or something, her bright red eyes were boring into him and her nostrils flared in visible anger sending a rush of fog over his visor eyepieces.

"Then prove it lier!" she snarled and Smoke felt a rush of blood to his face as the embarrassment hit him again.

"Let me get this straight, you want me to humiliate myself in front of all of you just to prove to you that I am not female?" he exclaimed and now she looked confused.

"Humiliate yourself? What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Well for my money there is only one way that I can prove to you that I am male and that involves public nudity in front of a bunch of complete strangers just to prove what reproductive organs I have and I can tell you now lady that is not going to fucking happen," Smoke said trying to sound brave but his voice wavered badly.

The commander looked utterly confused, "What are you talking about? There is no way we would ever force a male to disrobe publicly and humiliate themselves! What kind of animal are you to think such a thing!?" she exclaimed with very audible anger in her voice at the implication which utterly confused Smoke.

"Then how......?" he began till she pointed at his throat.

"The apple! Show us your apple! Everyone knows that only males carry the apple, the gift of the Great Tree herself, that combined with your pheromonal scent will reveal the truth of what you are!" she said and that's when he noticed everyone seemed to be glancing at the translators and that's when he saw it, a rather prominent Adam's apple right in the centre of their throats that had jewellery around it kinda highlighting it.

"Oh! Oh right! Ok yeah, goddess that's a relief, sure that I can do" he said making the commander's face freeze up like a computer stuck in a boot cycle.

"W-What?" she exclaimed in confusion.

"Shit can't tell you how relieved I am, Paya I thought you wanted me to get fucking naked for a moment there, huh you know I honestly didn't know that other species had these things, I always thought that only Human's had Adam's apples, I can't ever remember seeing a Xeno or a Yautja with one, but then I have never really got close enough to another dude to look so yeah maybe," he said pressing the release under his chin.

His helmet split apart and began to shift as it slid down into his collar he suddenly realized that he couldn't see out of his right eye again and the surprising heat of the air around him hit him like a slap instantly causing his sinuses to clog like an instant cold hitting him, boy these Raptorians sure liked things warm, suddenly he was rather glad he didn't have a mirror because if his face looked half as bad as it felt it probably looked like he'd tried to use it to stop a charging Xeno queen.

The commander move like lightning and she shot forwards and grabbed his jaw which sent white-hot needles of pain firing off throughout his face, "OWWW! Fuck! Easy!" he yelled in pain.

She lifted his head and he felt he freeze up again, "N-N-No, N-N-Not possible, it has to be a trick, a deception!" she stammered before she suddenly grabbed a handful of his hair and jammed her snout in against his neck taking a huge lungful of his scent laden air, she actually began sniffing him like a fucking fire tiger, taking deep huffing breaths of his neck, his face, his hair, everything.

Then just as suddenly as she grabbed him she let go and staggered backwards away from him, "M-M-Male, h-h-h-he's male, I-I-I-I don't understand, what kind of monsters would send their precious males out to fight!?" she stammered her face looking like her whole world was becoming unravelled, her eyes were huge and filled with confusion.

The other commanders rushed forwards and one grabbed hold of her steadying her, the other rushed forwards and surrounded him pawing at him each examining him in the same way that the white scaled one had, that's when they all got the same look of utter shock, confusion and utter non-understanding written all over their faces.

Suddenly one of the capture group slumped to the ground and the other around her grabbed her and tried to steady her, "M-M-Male? I-I-I-I h-h-h-hurt a male? Great Tree forgive me" she stammered looking like she was going into shock, meanwhile, all the translators were looking at him in utter shock and what he saw was awe, it was really fucking unsettling because he was beginning to realise that the face they were all wearing was the same face he'd worn the first time he'd seen Jack Mason and Tik eleth up close and boy it must have made him look dumb.

Feeling was starting to come back to his legs and with a fair bit of effort, he managed to stagger himself back onto his feet, "Seize her" the white commander said pointing at the member of the hunting group that was on her knees.

"No! Please commanders! She didn't know! None of us knew! How could we have known! Even you thought it was a lie!!" one of the others with blood-red scales and orange stripes said in desperation said as suddenly more guard flooded the room these one's all wearing helmets so Smoke couldn't see their faces.

"Doesn't matter, right now we have evidence of your guilt actually staring us right in the face, guards take her to a cell and get medics up here right away" one of the other commanders said in a dark voice.

"Umm excuse me hate to interject but what happening here?" Smoke asked, the white scaled commander turned and looked at him her expression softening as she did.

"She's being charged with grievous bodily harm against a male, its an incredibly serious charge but given your obvious injuries and their prior statements as to how she subdued you by hitting you in the face with a rifle butt its a clear cut case, its a pretty clear that she is guilty and I don't know how your people treat such things given the utterly unfathomable and monstrous act of your females sending their males out to fight, but we Raptorians take such things incredibly seriously, male abuse is not tolerated in the slightest, mistake or not the facts are clear, through her willful actions she injured a male through violent means" she said as the guard pulled the obviously very distressed female to her feet and proceeded to cuff her hands behind her back after reliving her of her weapon.

"Hey don't I get a say in all this?" Smoke exclaimed loud enough for them to all look at him in surprise, including the female being cuffed, "Well I am the injured party right? So surely I should get an actual say on whether or not I want to press charges or something?" he said moving over towards her on his rubbery legs which were slowly regaining their solidness.

He stopped right in front of the cuffed woman and she looked up at him with surprise and what could be hope in her golden eyes, he turned and looked at the white scaled commander who looked utterly surprised by this and she looked at the other commanders and they quickly huddled up and began conversing so fast that his translator broke again, then she turned back to him.

"Well yes as the victim of this heinous crime it would only be right and fair that you have an input on it, so please speak and say your piece," she said and Smoke nodded.

"Good well I'd like all charges dropped please," he said and all of the commanders mouths dropped open like someone had flipped a switch.

"I-I-I beg your pardon?" another of the commanders this one with jet black scales stammered.

"Well the way I see it she was as clueless as you as to my gender which obviously seems to matter a great deal to you, so she didn't assault a male as you put it, she simply attacked what she perceived to be a threat to your people, when she hit me she really didn't know who or what she was hitting, all she saw was a threat, she didn't know I wasn't hunting them to attack them but was trying to catch up with them to try and introduce myself, I mean you were just invaded by both the Scalathor and the Draconis who with all intent and purpose are here to either kill your leadership and enslave your people or just kill you all if you don't bow down and worship their bat shit crazy Dark Seed, so as far as I see no crime was committed only a misunderstanding, granted a fucking painful misunderstanding granted, but given that I was the recipient of said undue pain i should get to decide if punishment is due and given that she was acting in what she believed was defence of her people after risking her life to go out there and attack the invaders while risking getting eaten alive by all the utterly crazy shit you got wandering around out there, yeah I don;t want her punished" Smoke said trying to gestured but given his arms had no feeling it really didn't have more flair than waving a limp pool noodle at her.

"But our law on male abuse is very very clear and this is a proven case not a disputed one, you are indeed a male which is both equally very surprising and distressing to us, alien or not you are a male and she assaulted you causing grievous harm to you, she must be punished for this, it is one of our most grievous crimes, surely you should know this? Are the males of your species not protected by your females?" the white scaled commander said.

"Our laws do not make exceptions based on gender and before we get into a whole gender debate here I am not judging you and equally I do not wish you to judge me and mine, you know nothing of my species just like you know nothing of mine, maybe these laws are utterly justified, but I am not of this world and male or not if she is being judged by your laws for a total misunderstanding then let the punishment fit that, not the crime you believe it to be until you saw my Adam's apple and smelt what I guess and hope are my pheromones and that you are not a species with a hair smelling fetish, how was she to know? It was a misunderstanding nothing more, I'm sure as a proud Raptorian if she had known in advance she would have never struck me, true or not?" Smoke said aiming the question at the female in cuffs.

"Of course I would not have! No proud Raptorian would stoop something as grievous and heinous as male abuse! Only a pathetic weak female would ever dare to lift her hand to a male" the cuffed female said and Smoke nodded.

"You'd get along well with our Yautja girls, they believe as you do, so you see commanders a mistake, nothing more, if she must be punished then let it be for a mistake nothing more, personally I do not wish her punished and as you say I am the victim so surely that should count for something here, you claim to be honourable and surely honourable beings would take the plea of the so-called victim in such a matter?" Smoke said eyeing them all.

The commanders huddled up and spoke fast enough to break his translator again, but this time they were much faster in their decision and when they broke the commander that approached was red and yellow, "You surprise us yet again male Smoke of the humans, you have made a most convincing argument, so yes we will defer to your plea on her behalf, but we cannot ignore what is a most heinous crime to our people, so we have decided that Surface Stalker Vippy here and her Surface Stalker pride will be assigned as your permanent guardians and if so much as a single hair on your head is harmed here then they will all suffer the consequences" she said then she turned to cuffed female and her group.

"Do you accept the terms Surface Stalker Vippy?" she asked and the female in cuffs turned to look at her comrades of which one of them stepped forwards this one had odd blue and green patterning on her scales and orange eyes.

"We do, we will protect the male and ensure no harm comes to him," she said and Vippy nodded in agreement.

"Very well then, guards release her, your first order of business will be to take him to the medics and ensure his injuries are treated and he is properly cared for then you will come to the command bunker for debriefing, there is much we have to discuss with him, I cannot wait to find out what possible justification his people could have for using males as warriors, to even think of such a thing, utterly shameful" the commander nearest him said looking at him with a look that wasn't angry but almost pitiful, which in a way made him feel angry but he held his tongue trying to remember his diplomatic training, he was just glad he prescribed to the Jack Mason school of diplomacy rather than the Tik eleth one, otherwise right now he'd be trying to pull a golden boot out of her tail hole all while trying to put her burning feathers out.

The guards unlocked the Raptorian called Vippy's cuffs and released her, she rubbed her wrists as her friends embraced her and quickly checked her over, both the guards, commanders and the translators filed out of the room leaving Smoke alone with his new guardians who were checking on the one called Vippy, she shrugged them off and then they turned their attention to him, they moved really quickly their movements were jerky and quick almost like birds but at the same time smoke felt like he was being surrounded by forest wolves or fire tigers, their eyes were both expressive and intense as they seemed to be appraising him, they tightened ranks closing into a tight circle around him and the one called Vippy that he'd just saved from whatever punishment they'd had in-store for her moved in and took told of his frontal armor so with surprising strength for one so small she pulled him down to her, instantly six sets of two fingered hands and large thumbs began to lift his hair and head and they exposed his throat again before instantly releasing him and moving back.

The same look of surprise was etched into all their faces, "Y-Y-You really are male, by the Great Tree how can this be, I hoped that the commanders had made a mistake, but you carry the apple, there can be no doubt" Vippy said her voice high pitched and surprised her feathers ruffling and pulsing as she spoke and a shimmer of colour passed through her scales making her briefly translucent.

"We must take him to the medics, he is injured," one of them with green and brown scales said a flicker of colour passing through hers as well and Vippy nodded and before Smoke could utter a word they seized him from all sides and ushered him out of the same door that the commanders had left by and before his brain even had the chance to really catch up and comprehend what he was seeing he was being led through tunnels carved into the black rock that was shiny and smooth like volcanic glass and suddenly Smoke realized that these weren't just tunnels they were another form of defence, the meagre lights that lit them caused reflections upon reflections that made it look like there were thousands of tunnels branching off in all directions like a house of mirrors.

The Raptorians didn't let go of him for a single second as they steered him through the maze of tunnels, two of them had hold of his hands and the other had just found things to grab onto of his armour though the were all avoiding his weaponry, obviously having learned their lesson around that, as many questions as were firing through his mind the pain in his face was kinda preventing him for asking them, he decided to keep quiet for the time being, he could hear chitters of Raptorian being spoken from the various tunnels around them but the distance was too great and sound too quiet for his translator to lock on and translate it, his new chaperones didn't speak the entire way but they kept shooting glances at him that was a mixture of both curiosity and worry.

But eventually, they reached a chamber that was brightly lit and to his surprise carved utterly out of volcanic glass, it was a field hospital, the various beds were carved right out of the rock with mattress laid upon them along with blankets as well as machines to monitor the patients laid upon them, most of them were empty but a few were occupied and each of the occupied beds was surrounded by other Raptorians, obviously their comrades.

Suddenly a group of Raptorians dressed in all blue scrubs with white lab coats appeared directly in their path and all of them looked both shocked and curious, "What is this?" one of them asked in a high pitched whistling voice.

"Alien male, he calls his kind human, facial injuries caused by myself, possible concussion and maybe worse," Vippy said and instantly each and every one of the doctor group looked at Smoke in shock and then they utterly glared with pure venom at Vippy.

"A male? You injured a male?" one of them spat her feather bristling and her teeth beared as her anger was obvious.

"I did not know he was a he when I stuck him, I thought he was with the Scalathor and Draconis and I thought he was a she," Vippy said her voice sounding full of shame and embarrassment, her eyes looking down at her three toes feet as she shuffled nervously.

"All true, they thought I was attacking them to be fair, I tried to show them that I was neither Scalathor nor Draconis when she struck, it was pure instinct and given I'd been hunting them through the jungle it's understandable," Smoke said and he suddenly had six very shocked sets of eyes upon him.

"A m-m-m-male warrior!? And he speaks our language?" one of them exclaimed in utter shock, Smoke tapped his throat where the suit helmet was retracted.

"Universal translator, it's translating what I'm saying and visa versa," Smoke said and suddenly in the blink of an eye, they were all around him examining him with both their eyes, hands and a verity of instruments.

"I cannot get any readings?" one of them said looking at another who confirmed it with her own devices.

"That's my armour deflecting your scans and please be careful what you touch it's fitted with anti-tamper and anti-theft security, it will shock you," Smoke said tapping his chest plate making it ring slightly.

"It's true please be careful honoured lifesavers, it bloody hurts," Vippy said rubbing her hand in memory of the shock of it.

"Then please remove it so we may examine you," one of them said and the others nodded in unison, Smoke looked around at all the curious set of eyes on him.

"Err if you don't mind I would rather not have an audience my kind are very private about that sort of thing, modesty and privacy are big deals for us," Smoke said softly and the doctors glanced around at all the other Raptorians in the room and instantly they surrounded him like his guardians had and began to manoeuvre him towards a side room.

"Hey, we must accompany him! He is under our protection!" Vippy exclaimed her voice angry and defensive and as one of the doctors glared at her.

"Not in our medical chambers he is not and as is obvious by his facial injuries you have done enough damage to this poor male, he has requested privacy for his examination so shall it be, you will wait here until we are satisfied that he is treated," one of the doctors said and with that Smoke was swept into a side room and the door closed behind them leaving Vippy and her group in the main room.

They appeared to have led him into a private examination room complete with a bed, instantly the doctors spread out grabbing little instruments and tools, "Ok please disrobe, err sorry we did not get your name or species?" one of the doctors said, she had rather pretty yellow and blue scales.

"My name is Smoke and I am a human" he replied suddenly feeling nervous, it wasn't like he hadn't been through a medical before, hell he'd had female Xeno Battle Angels poking and prodding him before now as he'd been through medicals or for the injuries he'd picked up during Hunter training, so taking a deep breath he took his rifle off and placed it on the bed before pressing the release catches which made his armour unlock and retract before he began to remove it in sections leaving him in his undersuit.

"No scales! He has skin and it changes colour! And look no feathers but fur! Incredible!" one of them said and suddenly they were all around him as he peeled his undersuit down to his waist, that was as far as he was willing to go letting it hang down so they could examine him.

"Please sit down you are surprisingly large for a male if you are this large I cannot even imagine how large your females are," a doctor with orange and green scale said pointing to the bed.

"Err they're actually for the most part smaller than we are, humans are evolved primates, or mammals if you prefer so for the most part we males are larger, for the most part, its not a huge difference but there are extremes," Smoke said sitting down on the bed and all of the doctors looked utterly amazed at this.

"Umm if I may ask where is your pride? Did you get separated from them?' one of the doctors asked as she began to run a small disc-like device over his chest before looking at the results in surprise and showing it to her colleague.

"Ummm I'm not sure what a pride is so if you could explain it to me I could possibly explain," Smoke said and all the doctors glanced at each other questioningly.

"Possibly a language issue," one of them said and the others nodded.

"Umm a pride is our word for your group, Raptorian prides are usually made up of six to eight females and one male when they find one, so where is your pride?" another of the doctors asked and Smoke shook his head.

"Ahh ok I understand now, the Serpentinus are simular I understand they call their groups packs and they're usually small than yours by the sound of it, humans, Yautja and Xenos don't really work like this, humans are solitary creatures, we live with a single set of parents until we come of age and then we are on our own, I guess your race kinda like Serpentinus have differences in your birth rates in the favor of female to male ratio correct?" Smoke said and they all glanced at each other in utter amazement and nodded.

"Yeah humans aren't like that, our birth rates are about fifty fifty male to female, so our social demographic is one to one and are very different to yours," Smoke said and this utterly amazed the Raptorian doctors.

"One male to one female? So every female gets one male e-e-e-each?" one of them exclaimed ina a stammer and Smoke nodded.

"Can you imagine? One male each? Oh the possibilities" one of them said and suddenly they all looked dreamy and their scales shimmered and actually seemed to rattle like they were being adjusted.

Then they seemed to get a hold of themselves and quickly went back to examining him, "Err could you remove the lower half of the suit please?" one of them asked looking up at him with bright purple eyes.

"Err why? My face and head are injured not my legs, arse or reproductive organs" Smoke said questioningly causing them to look at one another.

"You are the first of your species that we have ever met and we would rather like to study you," the one with purple eyes said and Smoke shook his head.

"Sorry doctors I'm not comfortable with being a lab rat, I don't mind some preliminary examinations but I didn't come here to have my anatomy examined, so if you don't mind I'd rather just have my face fixed and my head sorted, when the rest of my people get here and we've sorted this mess with the Scalathor and Draconis out I'm sure our Battle Angels who are our field surgeons and they can give you all the anatomical data you could ever wish to study, just not mine," he said flatly but curiously.

The doctors looked a little deflated but they nodded and Smoke was very glad to see that consent was a big part of their medical ethics as well as those of Clan Mason, they produced a perfect X-ray like scan on a 3D holographic imager showing a perfect rendering of Smoke's head and boy it was creepy, "There is some bruising and swelling to this part of your prefrontal cortex, this will have resulted in a mild concussion which will cause slight blurred vision, headaches and a few other symptoms, this we can sort with a nanite injection which will repair the damage, but we will require a blood and DNA sample, the nanites are basically capable of repairing the damaged tissue, once done there they will then move on to the damage to your nasal bone and cheek bones, we will have to reset your nasal bones manually though and don't worry the nanites won't remain in your body, they will infuse themselves into your bones to repair the damage and any that aren't used will simply self destruct" one of the doctors said pointing to the injury sites on the 3D Smoke head.

Smoke nodded his consent for this and they took a couple of vials of blood from him and they utterly marvelled at the fact that it was red and based on iron and it appeared they had truly incredible DNA sequencing skills as Smoke had imagined the process taking hours not minutes, then they walked over to a machine that looked like a kind of vending machine filled with glowing silver tubes, they extracted one from the bottom and applied it to another machine which they told him that was encoding the nanites and once done they placed it into a rather nasty looking gun and Smoke braced himself.

They injected it into his neck and with utter surprise painted on his face he felt utterly nothing, then with a swift movement one of them reached up and gripped his face gently and another stepped in and with a sickening crunch she set his nose and he yelped more in surprise than pain, this must-have triggered some kind of instinct in them because suddenly he found himself surrounded by them all, they had both of his hands and were stoking them and others were patting his arms and shoulders reassuringly, "There there its ok, you'll be ok now, I'm sorry if that hurt I didn't mean it to, I'm so sorry" the doctor who had set his nose said softly and apologetically.

"Err it's ok it didn't really hurt it was more of a surprise than anything," Smoke said.

"It's going to be ok now, you poor thing you must have been through so much, you are so brave to walk around like a Surface Stalker all on your own with no pride to protect you, how utterly horrible, but it's ok now you're safe now," another of them said in a soft almost cooing voice.

"Umm thank you for all your help, is my treatment complete now?" Smoke asked starting to feel a little weird now and they all nodded.

"Yup good as new I'm sure your female will be happy with our handy work when she finally gets her male back," one of them said sounding proud and Smoke nodded before getting dressed in his armour again before he chuckled softly which confused them.

'Oh sorry I'm not laughing at you, just at what you said is all, I'm not mated to anyone, when I hit eighteen I signed a no consent to hunt given form, so I'm single until I lift that" he said with a smile knowing that they probably didn't have a clue what he was talking about but instead of a little laughter and embarrassment at their wrong assumption like he expected they looked utterly horrified and instantly one of them rushed out of the room and dragged Vippy and the other into the room which suddenly felt rather cramped with 12 Raptorians and one very confused human in it but suddenly all of the doctors were pointing at him.

They spoke so fast his translator began failing again but he did catch 'single' and 'unattached male' in what they said and suddenly Vippy and her group looked utterly horrified and Vippy looked utterly distraught, "Umm not sure what's going on guys but I'm fine honestly so shall we get moving so that we can speak to the commanders and get this debrief underway?" Smoke asked.

Instantly Vippy and her group nodded and surrounded Smoke, "Thank you honoured doctors and you have our words that he will be properly guarded and protected and I swear it to you that we had no idea he was without Pride, we will ensure that he gets not even a paper cut" Vippy said and one of the doctors snorted and glared.

"See that you don't we have the records of the damage to his face now, we will be calling for him to return soon and if we find anything.........well you know as well as we do the punishment for harming an un-prided male," she said and they all nodded, suddenly Smoke was surrounded again and they were off, with Vippy's group glaring daggers at anyone who so much as looked at him, they were suddenly like a group of very overprotective bodyguards, the way they were grabbing, directing, guiding and directing him made him realise that they were twice as protective of unattached males as they were of attached males, Smoke sighed very heavily, he got the feeling that this was going to be a very long debriefing, thank Paya for painkillers and apparently nanites.


End file.
